Naruto's Resolve
by Mako-Hero
Summary: Naruto goes on a mission to destroy the Akatsuki and recover Sasuke. He succeeds but finds himself depressed because he believes Sakura is out of reach. He plans to leave Konoha. Will anyone stop him?
1. Meeting

**This is my first fanfic ever. Please be gentle...hehe. You should know I am writing this as if Sasuke never attacked Konoha.**

**I dont own Naruto (sad face)**

**Premise: After the attack on the village by Pain, Naruto leaves Konoha to hunt down the Akatsuki and recover Sasuke. After three years of searching he finds and recovers Sasuke for Sakura's happiness, but he finds himself more depressed than he anticipated and leaves the village. Can she convince him to stay?**

**Rated M for swearing and possible future lemons.**

Four figures dressed in black cloaks with red clouds on them stand silently in a heavily wooded forest patiently listening to the faint sound of explosions heard in the distance. Suddenly, all noise ceases. The only sound they hear now is the faint breathing they are exchanging instead of words.

The first one to speak is a woman with fire red hair and glasses, "He's finished with the base. He's heading directly for us Sasuke-kun."

"Hmm" says the onyx eyed man with black hair "Is he alone or are there others with him like the reports said Karin?"

"He's alone but..." Karin says before she falls to one knee holding her chest earning a glare from the black haired man.

A man with blue hair steps up, "What the hell's wrong with ya dumb broad! You're such a wimp haha!"

"Shut your mouth Suigetsu!" screams the woman gasping for air, "I... can feel both of his chakras getting closer." she says with tears forming in her eyes, "One of the chakras is comforting me. It feels like it's holding me in a warm embrace and wants to protect me from harm..."

"Then why the hell are ya on the ground gaspin for air ya bimbo!" yells Suigetsu while he snakes his hand around the hilt of his giant sword in preparation for the fight he knows is coming.

"Its the other chakra... its vile." she says shut her eyes from the pain she feels now coursing through her, "I CAN FEEL ITS TEETH AROUND MY THROAT! I CAN SEE IT KILLING US!" she screams at the top of her lungs, "AHHHHHHH IT HURTS SASUKE-KUN!"

"Jugo, take care of Karin" Sasuke says to the as of yet silent member of the group.

"Hai, Sasuke" says the brown haired muscular man as he walks over to Karin and tries to comfort her.

"He'll be here any..." Sasuke is cut off as a swirl of leaves appears in front of the group.

Silence again takes hold of the group. The only noise heard is Karins desperate panting for air.

In front of them stands a six foot tall man with blonde spiky hair with red streaks that reaches down his neck and stops just before his shoulders. He's wearing black pants that tuck into his black boots, and a black muscle shirt with a thick orange line down the front with a green chuunin jacket left unzipped.

"Hey teme. Whats up?" says the newcomer while he surveys the group.

"Just like you Naruto-dobe" says Sasuke, "just show up and ask a stupid question as if there were nothing wrong."

"Well I'm so sorry your highness" says the blonde man while he graciously bows to Sasuke, "I didnt know you were hoping for formalities."

"AHHHHH!" their conversation was cut off by a loud scream by Karin.

"Whats wrong with her?" asks Naruto with a confused look on his face.

"It's you ya dumbass" says Suigetsu who has his sword out and at the ready for any retaliation from the blonde jinchuuriki. "Your chakras killin her"

"Whoops hehe! The kyuubi gets pretty riled up whenever an Uchiha is around" Naruto while waving his hands in front of him in his defense.

'_This guy is such an idiot! Why am I supposed to be afraid of him?,_" thinks Suigetsu almost out loud.

"I can help! I think..." says Naruto before making hand signs and yelling "KAGE NO BUNSHIN JUTSU!" and with that a perfect shadow clone appears beside Naruto waiting for instructions. "Hey Karin!" shouts Naruto.

"I dont remember introducing you dobe" says the onyx eyed Uchiha with a stoic look on his face.

"Oh haha" says Naruto while scratching behind his head before noticing Karin squirming around. "Ill explain in a minute teme" he says before looking at Karin again. "Hey Karin! Im going to quiet the Kyuubi down a bit OK? I made this clone next to me entirely of my personal chakra. Try to concentrate on just him and you might feel a bit better." says Naruto with a giant smile on his face.

Karin feels the new chakra source and tries to calm down and concentrate on it as best as she can. She feels the kyuubi's chakra recede and pinpoints the clone to feel Naruto's chakra wash over her with relief. The warm arms of the chakra are back around her and she lets a smile escape as she bathes in the comfort of it. She slowly regains a regular breathing pattern and sits up. For the first time since Naruto arrived she opens her eyes to look at the source of this intoxicating chakra. She nearly hits the floor again as she stares into the cerulean eyes of the jinchuuriki.

_'He's absolutely gorgeous!' _Karin yells in her mind while eyeing up the man in front of her. She takes her time dragging red her eyes up and down his firm, muscular torso. She notices the beautiful smile he's giving her, which draws her attention to the whisker marks on his face. She blushes a little wondering what they feel like. Suigetsu notices this right away.

"Hey baka get your head in the game! He's the enemy!" Suigetsu yells before running at Naruto with his sword at the ready.

The smile on Naruto's is replaced with a grin, "you dont really know how to use that sword too well do you?"

"I know how to use it well enough to rip you to shreds with it!" he screams while bringing down his sword to Naruto's head.

Naruto simply bats the sword to the side with no effort and shoves his fist though Suigetsu's chest.

'_What the hell'_ thinks Suigetsu _'he wasnt even fucking trying!'_

Naruto's victory is short lived as he hears Suigetsu laugh, "haha you think that can hurt me? If thats all you got then you're screwed!" laughs Suigetsu while he swing the sword down again. His laughter is cut abruptly short as the blade stops before it hits its intended target. "Wha?" Its then he notices his giant cleaver has been stopped by two fingers pinching at the blade. Before Suigetsu can do anything the blade is tossed into the nearest tree where it cleaves nearly half way through.

"Oh boy, that was lucky haha!" says Naruto with his right hand still imbedded in Suigetsu's chest.

_' This asshole is patronizin me!'_ screams the blue haired man in his own mind. Before he can even get another thought across he feels something weird in his chest.

"Please dont attack me again" says Naruto before the hand in Suigetsu's chest erupts and pushes him away with a flurry of wind.

The now weaponless Suigetsu stumbles to his feet while repairing the hole in his chest. "I told you, you're gonna need more than that to hurt me!" He once again charges at Naruto.

_'He cant hurt me so long as I can keep turnin into water if he hits me haha' _he thinks _' I jus gotta wait for him to slip up once and take my shot'_

Naruto sighs "I asked you not to attack so nicely... oh well." Naruto smacks his hand directly into Suigetsu's chest once more, but this time no water breaks the punch. Suigetsu feels his sternum cracking and looks and his opponent with a confused face as he goes flying into a tree, smacking into with another bone crunching thump.

"Wha... How?" chokes out Suigetsu.

"When I blasted you away from me the first time I shoved a chunk my chakra into you." says Naruto with a grin on his face. "In fact I put so much in that it hardened hehe. You should thank me because if I put any more of my chakra into you then you wouldn't have had time to fix the hole in your chest before your body hardened."

"Damn" says the shark toothed man before he passes out.

"Well now that he's out of the way..." the jinchuuriki tries to continue before he is again cut off by a scaled arm swinging towards his face.

"HAHAHAHA DIEEEEEE!" screams Jugo while swinging at Naruto.

"HEY IM TRYIN TO TALK OVER HERE JUGO!" yells Naruto before he grabs the large mans arm and twists it behind his back. He then kicks Jugo in the back so hard he flys across the forest and his face smacks into a tree. His curse mark recedes leaving Jugo rubbing his head and silently thanking Naruto for snapping him out of his trance. _'He truly is powerful. He can stop me without even trying just like Sasuke. Although I question his method' _Jugo thinks to himself while rubbing his sore head.

"Again dobe, you speak as if you have met my compatriots before." the sharingan user snaps while staring daggers at Naruto.

"Haha oh yea..." says Naruto while scratching his head again, "I've been gathering information for a bit so I found out all about what you were up to and who you were with." Naruto says with a smile.

"Gathering information?" questions Sasuke. "The reports I heard say you have been blowing up any Akatsuki base you have found, while systematically killing the main members of the Akatsuki."

"Well that was only part of the mission. Didn't your reports say I had people with me?" says Naruto.

"Yes. All reports said you were accompanied by Kakashi Hatake and Ibiki Morino." the raven haired man says before he nearly slapped himself in the head for being so stupid.

"What is it Sasuke-kun?" says Karin who reluctantly shifted her eyes off of Naruto, momentarily satisfied with merely sensing his clones chakra around her.

"Kakashi Hatake is one of the best infiltrators and trackers in the Fire country and Ibiki Morino is the best interrogator I've ever had the misfortune of meeting" Sasuke shudders remembering the chuunin written exam. "It's obvious they were gathering information."

"Yeah" Naruto says with both arms lazily behind his head, "Look at me. I love bright orange colors that scream kill me and on top of that Im too loud for infiltration. That's why I requested Kakashi came with, plus his nin dogs are perfect trackers. I needed Ibiki because I refuse to torture anyone, but at the same time I needed more info that I know only he could get. Don't get me wrong though. I did my fair share of work. Once we sapped the Akatsuki bases for information I would completely destroy them."

_'He would destroy the base entirely by himself!' _Karin went wide eyed _'I thought they planted explosives or something, but he single handedly blew up our bases leaving nothing but craters!'_ "HOW?" yelled Karin.

"Uhhh do you really want me to show you a jutsu that can blow up an entire base?" he asks while smiling at her.

She completely forgot what she asked as she gazed into his eyes. She blushes again.

"You alright over there?" Asks Naruto looking confused.

Sasuke getting fed up with this waste of time says "Please ignore her dobe." trying to get back on track he asks "so you gathered information as to the whereabouts of the other Akatsuki members so you can kill them?"

"Like I said before the Akatsuki is only part of the mission." the jinchuuriki states, "In fact, I dont care at all about the other members of the Akatsuki. I just wanted to find you." Naruto says while looking at Sasuke dead in the eyes.

"Hmm" Sasuke says his gaze hardening and his stance straightening. "Karin. Jugo."

"Yes Sasuke-kun?" says Karin.

"Yes Sasuke?" says Jugo.

"Take Suigetsu and retreat into the forest." Sasuke says with an emotionless tone.

"Hai Sasuke." Jugo says as he picks up Suigetsu and runs into the forest.

Karin hasn't moved since Sasuke gave his order.

"I said leave Karin." Sasuke says coldly.

"But what if you need my healing chakra!" yells Karin with a concerned tone.

"I'm sorry Karin, but I have to speak with Sasuke alone" says Naruto. Karin looks over at him to see his clone charging at her. With one swift movement the clone scoops her up bridal style and runs after Jugo.

Now the two 'friends' stared at each other as they prepared for the inevitable fight that was on the horizon.

"Before we start I have to say a few things." Naruto says with a smile.

"I have a few things to say as well" Sasuke says allowing a small smile to creep on his face.

**Hey everyone! So thats chapter one! Please be gentle with me! I know it might be terrible but I couldnt help myself. I had to write a fanfic haha. Anyways, I will update soon so long as I dont come out of this crying my eyes out haha. Either way I will complete this fanfic. Thanks to those read!**


	2. Sasuke's decision

**I don't own Naruto….. yet hahaha.**

**I hoped you guys enjoyed reading my first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please keep in mind; I was but a lowly pre-med major. I have little experience in writing stories, but I sure as hell am gonna try!**

**Little ooc for Sasuke, but its necessary for my story.**

**Here's chapter 2. Please enjoy.**

The two 'friends' stared each other down, waiting for the other to make any movements. Yet, none came. Naruto finally let loose a giant smile that left Sasuke confused. _'He's happy?'_ Sasuke's confusion almost shows itself on his face.

"Do you know how long it's taken me to find you?" Naruto says, his face brimming with happiness. "Three years devoted to searching for you and now it finally pays off." Naruto sighs and loosens his stance. "Don't look so confused teme. You knew I'd come for you eventually. I just had to remove any obstacles that might prevent us from meeting under my terms." Naruto says while rubbing a strong, tanned hand through his unruly blonde and red hair.

"Remove any obstacles? Is that why you've been destroying the Akatsuki?" Sasuke asks almost floored by the insinuation. 'He hasn't been eliminating the Akatsuki because they want to kill him! He's eliminating them just so they don't interrupt us!'

"Yeah" Naruto says waving him off, "I figured they would use you against me or try to interfere…. so I disposed of them." Naruto drops his smile as if he never wanted to do any of the things he did. "Well most of them I think" Sasuke didn't know what to say. He knew that any member that had tried to pursue Naruto would very suddenly disappear. Zetsu seemed to be the only one that could get away fast enough to relay any information about Naruto. Even then, Zetsu still had a great deal of clones that were unaccounted for, which were assumed dead by contact with the three Leaf ninja every Akatsuki was beginning to fear.

Sasuke snaps to a realization and activates his sharingan. He begins surveying the area while not trying to look too nervous. _'I know Karin didn't sense Kakashi and Ibiki before, but what if they are here now? I wouldn't stand a chance against all three if they surprised me!'_

"They aren't here teme." Naruto says looking at Sasuke with a bored expression. "I said before I wanted to talk to you alone."

"Hmm" Sasuke smirks "you're pretty confident you can take me by yourself. Don't think it will be so easy."

**Meanwhile (outside the forest)**

"That damn kid is taking long enough. Don't you think Kakashi?" Says the heavily scarred man dressed in all black.

The lazy jonin merely waves his hand without taking his eyes off of his perverted novel. "If Naruto wants to do this himself then we have to let him. He's been waiting three years for this Ibiki." _'This mission is finally almost over._ _I was getting bored with Ibiki's brooding.'_

"You think he will be alright?" asks Ibiki.

"If I didn't know you so well I'd say that sounded like you're concerned." The cyclops man taunts while smirking under his mask.

"The only concern I have is that my interrogation skills are going to get rusty…." He pauses for a moment and then smiles, "Hey Kakashi. Come here. I need to speak with you for a moment." Killer intent washes over Kakashi in waves.

Kakashi gulps before he slowly sets his book down and looks at Ibiki. _'I don't like that smile'_ "Ugh… I would but…. I gotta go…. ummm… to the bathroom!" Kakashi bolts straight into the woods running for dear life as Ibiki chases him with a kunai.

"Kakashi! If I didn't know you so well I'd say that sounded like you were concerned haha!" yells Ibiki while chasing him through the woods.

**Back with Naruto and Sasuke**

"You're different." says the sharingan user, while he looks at the new appearance of his old 'friend'. He notices the change in hair color and the fact that Naruto's face appears thinner and more animalistic.

"I'm the same where it counts." replies Naruto.

"You know that's not what I mean dobe. I'm positive I know why, but what caused the change in your appearance?" Sasuke says coldly.

_'If you already know then whats the point?'_ Naruto thinks to himself. "The Kyuubi and I have merged." Naruto says nonchalantly. "Her chakra affected my outward appearance a bit."

"I figured that's wha... the Kyuubi is a woman?" Sasuke almost yells at Naruto.

"Yup" his face then changes to a frown "Merging with her has had some unwanted side effects though."

"**Oh kit you love what merging with me has done to you."**

_'Says you!_ _Ill never have a normal conversation with a woman again because of you!'_

**Deeper in the Forest with the Naruto clone and Karin**

The Naruto clone sweeps up Karin and runs deeper into the forest. "Sorry about this Karin, but the boss needs to speak with him alone."

"Its ok Naruto-kun." Karin purrs and nuzzles into his chest almost completely euphoric from his chakra surrounding her. She runs her hand down his chest and feels his firm muscles ripple from holding her as he jumps from tree to tree. Then she takes a deep breath in an attempt to capture his scent and she freezes.

"Ugh" Karin feels almost paralyzed in his arms, but gathers the strength to put her arms around his shoulders. She begins to smell his body in a frenzy. The Naruto clone doesn't notice this because he is too busy sensing for Jugo and jumping from tree to tree.

"Ah" Karin moans aloud unable to keep it to herself anymore. _'What's going on with me?_' she feels heat pool between her thighs and shifts her legs around desperate to relieve the pressure. _'It feels like Im on fire! I need him right now!'_ she leans up to grab his lips, but before she can pull herself up Naruto sets her down.

"We're here." says the blonde clone "Hey Jugo, how's he doing?" the clone says pointing towards Suigetsu while walking towards him and away from the nearly orgasming Karin.

As the scent fades a bit Karin finally forms coherent words. "That smell almost made me orgasm. He didnt even touch me!" she says trying to hide her blush but failing. "I dont understand what just happened, but if I don't keep my distance I might betray Sasuke-kun and I cant do that." _'You love Sasuke. You love Sasuke. YOU LOVE SASUKE!' _she mentally screams to herself. The flustered redhead leans back and takes deep breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves, but a shift in the wind causes the scent to come back with a vengance. "Mmmmmm... OH DAMMIT!"

**Back with Naruto and Sasuke**

"**I can control that side effect, but I don't really want to yet Naru-kun."** the Kyuubi says inside Naruto's head.

_'Come on kyuubi-chan! Its starting to get ridiculous!'_ the young man pleads to an uncaring demon.

"**Soon enough you will be back in Konoha and I will consider it.** **Until then you will deal with it"** the demon smirks in his mind as he sighs aloud.

The blue eyed container pouts '_Whatever_.'

"Are you done staring at nothing yet baka?" the angry Uchiha asks with disdain. The glare emanating from his sharingan was enough to make almost any man tremble. Almost any man.

"I have one last question before we begin" the raven haired man states. "what reason is it that you have come after me?"

Naruto just stares at the Uchiha like he just heard the dumbest question in the world. "It's to bring ya back ya baka!" his hands now waving back and forth for emphasis. "Baa-chan is willing to reinstate you with some serious probation. I even asked for your group to have asylum in Konoha and even possible positions in the villages ninja ranks." Naruto says happily. "It took me a while, but she agreed on the condition that I accept responsibility for their actions and you are all put on a 24 hour watch by Anbu for an undisclosed amount of time."

Sasuke lets loose a small smile and slowly says "I've been thinking Naruto."

"Well thats new haha!" laughs the jinchuuriki while he points at Sasuke.

Ignoring the last comment and putting his hand on his forehead, "Ive accomplished nothing with the Akatsuki. I originally joined to avenge my brother, but my anger has receded over the years and has been replaced with something else."

"Don't you mean you joined to avenge your clan?" Naruto asks more confused than ever. 'Everything he has ever done before now was to kill his brother. He even left the village for it!'

"My brother killed my clan because they were going to start a war with the village. He killed everyone but me." his face hardens with pain "He cared for the village more than the clan, but he cared for me more than the entire village." Naruto couldn't say anything. He was shocked to his very core. " He was ordered by the Danzo and the council... I joined the Akatsuki to destroy the village Naruto."

"HE WAS ORDERED BY WHO!" Naruto yells his eyes flickering between red and blue while hands started transforming into claws. His anger hung in the air like a heavy mist weighing Sasuke down.

"Naruto calm yourself." Sasuke says calmly, betraying his actual feelings.

Naruto breathes deeply and his claws ascend back into normal human hands and his eyes return to there bright blue. Although, Sasuke notices that his eyes have lost a bit of there former luster.

He then laughs a bit and says "I just told you that I planned to destroy the village and it almost sounded like you wanted to help me."

"Not the village. Just Danzo and the council." Naruto replies coldly.

"If Itachi didn't stop the clan there would have been a war Naruto. Innocents would have been slaughtered... I've realized this and have recently come up with a new plan for revenge that wont hurt the village or its people." the black haired man grins. "I'm going back to Konoha and claim my rightful place as the Uchiha heir."

"Really! That's great teme!" Naruto thinks to himself for a minute before he skeptically asks the obvious question. "what's your plan?"

"My position as clan head gives me a lot of power in Konoha. I will build my reputation in the village as a fair shinobi and a clan head. I will work together with the Hokage and the other clan heads and when when the time is right we will strip Danzo and old council of any power leaving them desolate and without purpose. From that will rise a council the village will be proud of." Sasuke looks to the sky and smiles. He drops his head to lock eyes with Naruto and says, "I plan to protect the village. Just as my brother did."

Sasuke notices Naruto's eyes have been narrowed to red slits powered by the Kyuubi and wonders what is going on. He was about to speak, but Naruto's eyes again return to their cerulean color and he speaks "I believe you Sasuke... So does Kyuubi-chan."

"Well that just leaves one thing then teme." Naruto says getting into his taijutsu stance and flaring his chakra.

"You're right dobe." Sasuke says getting in his stance and activating the mangekyou sharingan.

"For old time sakes then?" Sasuke says smirking.

"Believe it!" the ecstatic blonde haired man says. Before the two friends move in for an exhilarating fight.

**Thats chapter two! I will update soon again I hope. Next chapter will be the fight for sure and then I hope the return to Konoha so I can start the storyline I originally wanted. Im going to do everything I can to make this fight good. I would love any constructive critiques you guys have. I really want to make this story great if I can! I hope you enjoyed it so far!**


	3. Of fights and pheremones!

**Don't own Naruto.**

**I really appreciate the comments**

**To Jarjaxle: Your questions will certainly be answered as the story unravels a bit more. I still need antagonists after all and I have a few specific plans for Naruto's enemies!**

**Gold Testament: I'll always remember the Sasuke that jumped in front of Haku's senbons for Naruto.**

**PhoenixADark: I haven't thought about other couples yet, but I think I can accommodate since I am just winging this story as I write it hehe. Also, I agree that Gaara is awesome.**

**Yay its fight time!**

A sadistic smile forms on Naruto's face as the traces of the Kyuubi's chakra begin to circulate within him. Sasuke stoically stays in his stance and watches the jinchuuriki live up to his namesake. '_Tsukuyomi_' Sasuke says to himself as he pushes his chakra towards his right eye.

Naruto's eyes flutter and he finds himself nailed to a cross overlooking a seemingly never ending world of similar effigies. Blood is running down his hands where the rusty nails are set, but his eyes never waver from Sasuke's stare. Red eyes slowly approach and notice Naruto still has the same sadistic smile on his face as earlier. "Welcome to my world of illusions." the emotionless raven haired man says.

"Are you expecting this to work on me teme?" Naruto says as he rips both of his arms forward and breaks the cross. Wood splinters hit the ground as Naruto climbs off and his feet hit the ground. The world of crosses fades and the genjutsu dispels.

"I was pretty sure it wouldn't work on you just like it didn't work on Killer Bee. I just wanted to quickly test your abilities." Sasuke says shrugging his shoulders.

"It's my turn to test you then!" yells Naruto as he dashes towards Sasuke. The ground underneath his feet receive long, ugly gashes in his wake. He leaps at Sasuke and a crater forms behind him. "YAHHH" Naruto screams as he swings his right leg at Sasuke's gut only to have him easily sidestep out of the way.

Sasuke points at his eye, "I can read your moves before you do them Naruto... It's pointless to attack me head on." The raven haired man quickly turns as he hears an explosion coming from Naruto's direction. He looks to see a half disintegrated tree tipping towards him and Nauto's leg coming down towards his face with an ax kick. _'All he did was jump off of the tree and half of it turned to dust!'_ He quickly blocks the kick with both of his forearms and hears a subtle crunch come from them before he grapples Naruto's leg and whips him to the ground. Naruto slams into the earth with a hard thud and an "Umph" gets choked out of him. Sasuke moves away quickly as what was left of the tree after Naruto's chakra powered legs rebounded off of it came crashing down on the blonde haired jinchuuriki.

_'That kick nearly broke both of my arms.'_ Sasuke thinks to himself. _'Better either keep him away or deflect his attacks.'_ Sasuke switches his stance to a new taijutsu style and waits for the next attack. He watches the tree get effortlessly thrown to one side leaving a smirking blonde standing unscathed.

"That style is a good choice... Hell it might be your only choice hehe." Naruto laughs, but Sasuke remains calm and unamused. "So you're gonna try to us my power against me then huh?"

"Your attacks rely on your natural power and speed." Sasuke says calmly. "This style will let me reduce the damage your attacks inflict almost completely."

Naruto crouches down "We'll see" as the last syllable left his mouth he charged Sasuke again. Naruto forcefully swings at Sasukes face to have it easily pushed away. All of his blows were being smoothly pushed around in a beautiful display of defense by the Uchiha. Overwhelming attacks were reduced to nothing as Sasuke's dance-like style waved them into the ground causing small tremors that shook the surrounding wildlife. Leaves fell gracefully from the violently shaking trees and the animals of the forest scurried away in fear for their lives.

'Retaliate' Sasuke says to himself as he stomps a kick by Naruto into the ground and switches his stance to offense. Sasuke punches Naruto's face into the dirt and kicks him in the stomach to send him flying. Sasuke slowly switches his stances back to the defensive one waiting for Naruto to rise again.

Naruto stands while rubbing his cheek and holding his stomach, "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he yells and a clone begins to run into the forest.

"What was the point of that dobe?" asks the confused Sasuke.

Naruto grins, "You'll see" he says getting back into his taijutsu stance. "Dont worry teme. I won't be sending and army of shadow clones to fight you this round." Naruto's grin grows a bit, "It'll be all me for this fight." Naruto rushes Sasuke again with similar results as before. Naruto attacks and Sasuke dodges or pushes the attack away. On and on this continues while the sharingan analyzes the attacks and plans a counter strike. It presents itself in a haymaker Naruto sends at the wrong moment. Sasuke switches his style after deflecting the powerful swing and shoves his elbow into Naruto's throat throwing the blue eyed man across the battlefield and into a tree. As Naruto gasps for air while lifting himself up, he coughs up blood onto the dirt and wipes the blood left on his mouth off onto his arm. The jinchuuriki shakes for a moment and then suddenly calms down.

His breathing becomes more even and he shuts his eyes while taking a deep breath. "It's time" Naruto says. Sasuke sees an enemy with closed eyes, but does not attack in fear that this was all a ruse for him to let his guard down. He settles for slowly approaching his opponent while analyzing him with the sharingan.

'_I see a new source of chakra around him. What is that? It's not the Kyuubi's is it?'_ Sasuke is unsure of how to deal with this new situation. '_Even though we have only been using taijutsu so far I better watch for any ninjustsu after this'_ Naruto with his eyes still closed jumps at Sasuke again. "You are just wasting your time Naruto. I will deflect every attack you throw." Sasuke says as he moves his face out of the way of Naruto's punch. Just as Sasuke planned to counterattack he feels a bone crunching hit connect to his face. As he soars through the air and then skids across the ground he thinks, '_How? His attack missed me!'_

"This is my frog kata." Naruto says with a hand on his hip and a finger in the air, "It relies on chakra that I gather from nature to extend and strengthen my attacks." Naruto finally opens his eyes to reveal two rectangle shaped pupils. "This form allows me to sense chakra as well." Naruto puts his finger to his chin in a thinking pose. "The only problem is I need to be standing still to gather the energy from around me. I can't figure out any other way to do it mid combat without sending out a clone or two to gather it for me."

'_So that's why he made that clone earlier!' _The pale skinned Uchiha mentally applauds his counterpart for his strategy."That's an interesting trick Naruto." Sasuke says as he rubs his face and uses a large tree root to help himself stand. "It renders my defense useless" Naruto widely grins at the black haired man. Sasuke reaches to his back and slowly brings his chokuto out of its sheath. The three foot sword gleams from the sun that pokes through the trees as Sasuke settles into his stance. "Looks like our taijutsu match is belongs to you." Sasuke says as he moves the blade to his side, "Time for us to move on."

Naruto jumps over to the tree where he threw Suigetsu's oversized blade and removes it. He swings it around a few times to get the feel of it before he settles into his own stance and locks eyes with Sasuke. "Well my swordplay normally is done with a smaller blade, but this will do." Sasuke rushes in and slices down on Naruto. Throwing the massive sword in front of him Naruto blocks Sasuke's attack and propels the raven haired man backwards at the same time. Sasuke lands casually on a tree branch and looks down on Naruto who was preparing to attack. _'Lets see how well he can deal with this'_ Sasuke says to himself and smirks. The Uchiha jumps at the blonde man once again and slices downward. Naruto again throws the giant sword in front of himself to block and push Sasuke back, but this time he doesn't feel the same push of Sasuke being thrown away. Instead he sees Sasuke's chokuto sliding straight through the six foot decapitating sword before finally plunging into his right shoulder. About four feet of the large blade now lay on the ground leaving Naruto with only a foot of hilt and a foot of blade to protect himself.

"You enhanced your blade with lightening chakra I see." Naruto says while he watches the wound on his arm gush blood over his green chuunin jacket and down his torso. He diverts his eyes off of the wound and back on to the Uchiha, "Good thing I have Kyuubi-chan or that chakra probably would have paralyzed me as soon as your blade hit me." Naruto says with a chuckle. Again he looks at his shoulder wound and watches as the blood stops pouring out. Naruto brings what is left of his blade in front of him and prepares himself for another attack. Sasuke jumps at Naruto again expecting the same result as before. He slashes downward and Naruto moves his weapon for a counter. As the blades connect Sasuke waits for his katana to slide through the broken weapon, but this never happens. Naruto throws Sasuke's chokuto off to the side with a parry and grazes Sasuke's leg with his shortened sword. The cut made by Naruto's sword was so clean that blood didn't spill from Sasuke's wound until after he jumped away and resumed his stance.

Sasuke winces momentarily while clutching his wound, "It appears I'm not the only one who can enhance their weapon with elemental chakra."

"I have an affinity for wind." Naruto says, "It makes my sword extremely sharp and extends its reach." Naruto grins and leaps at Sasuke to resume their fight. The two coat each other in wounds. Small cuts adorn Sasuke's body while larger deeper cuts cover Naruto. Sasuke shows his aptitude for sword fighting. The proof covers Naruto's body. "I never was great at kenjutsu. You're gonna have to teach me more when we get back to Konoha." Naruto says smiling while blood drips off of him. Soon after the blood stops pouring and the wounds heal.

Sasuke smirks, "You won the taijutsu round and I appeared to have won the kenjutsu round." Sasuke's smirk disappears.

Naruto puts his finger to his chin in a thinking pose and says, "So that leaves ninju..."

"KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU!" Sasuke yells as his mouth fills with fire. Naruto immediately jumps out of the way of the huge fireball that barrels towards him and watches it as it plows through the forest leaving smoldering trees in its wake.

Sasukes left eye opens wide, "Amaterasu" Sasuke says to himself. Naruto is sprinting around the forest and jumping from tree to tree as fast as he can while black flames nip at his heels. Sasuke feels his chakra dwindling, but he pursues until he catches Naruto's coat in the flames. Naruto quickly rips off the coat and throws it to the ground before the contagious flames spread across his body.

"FUTON: ATSUGAI!" Naruto yells and a giant ball of wind comes flying towards Sasuke.

_'Damn! I cant move in time!'_ Sasuke yells in his mind _'Looks like I have to use this already. __This will surely end the fight.'_ Both of Sasukes eyes widen and he whisper "Susanoo"

Naruto gazes upon the ball of wind chakra heading for Sasuke and grins. _'I gotcha teme.' _Naruto watches the collision and waits for the dust to settle. To his dismay he watches a giant shield form out of the dust. _'What the hell is that?'_ the shield rises and shows an unharmed Sasuke standing in front of a red ethereal samurai.

"This is Susanoo. His shield is indestructible. Nothing you do can get to me now." Sasuke says with a smirk on his face.

Naruto smiles and a red chakra pours out of him. A red cloak forms around his body and nine tails sprout from his lower back. He laughs a with a deep guttural tone. **"You think just because no one ever broke his shield that it's indestructible?" **Two large red claws close together in front of Naruto. As they begin to open a black sphere takes shape. Naruto breathes out slowly **"Yami Rasengan"**

**Meanwhile with Clone Naruto, Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu**

Clone Naruto sets down Karin and walks towards Jugo and Suigetsu. "Hey Jugo. How's he doing?"

The muscular man looks at the jinchuuriki clone and says "You broke his sternum... as well as a few ribs when he hit the tree."

"Lets get him back on his feet then." the clone says as he bends down to the unconscious blue haired man.

"OH DAMMIT!" Karin yells.

The clone ignores her and continues with what he's doing. He places his hands over Suigetsu and closes his eyes. The clone begins to glow a faint blue color none of which goes unnoticed by Jugo.

"What are you doing?" the large man asks calmly.

The glowing around the clone stops and he stands up to speak, "I removed the chakra that the boss shoved into him to harden his body. He should be up soon." The blonde man says looking up at the giant. Jugo looks down at Suigetsu and notices his chest begins to cover itself with water and regenerate. "As soon as he gets up I'd like to speak with all of you." The clone sits up against a tree and waits for the blue haired man to recover.

Karin sits up and looks at the blonde man leaning up against the tree. _'I wonder what he wants from us. He hasn't tried to hurt us or use us as leverage against Sasuke-kun so I don't know what he wants.'_ She stares at him for at least an hour. She sighs and removes her black Akatsuki coat to reveal a lavender uniform slightly covering short tight black shorts that lead to thigh high stockings. She adjusts her stockings and looks at Naruto again. '_He's so different from Sasuke-kun. He's open and kind. Even their chakras are opposite. Sasuke-kun's is cool and collected while his is warm and calming.' _She leans back again and looks to the sky before she hears a rustling sound coming from the direction of her new crush. She looks at Naruto to see him staring at her wide eyed.

"Karin!" the clones shouts in a concerned tone.

_'Why is he looking at me like that?'_ Karin stops cold as she figures out why. She grasps her throat and keels over screaming in pain. "AHHHHH THE CHAKRAS BACK!" She feels the Kyuubi's chakra grip her throat tighter and she cries aloud again. Just as she was about to pass out from pain she feels a warmth at her back. The chakra gripping her throat lets go and is replaced with a warm beautiful chakra that drapes itself over her like a warm blanket. She smiles and leans back into a firm chest. _'What?'_

"I'm sorry about that Karin." the clone says gently as he gives her a soft smile. He is holding her from behind with his arms around her and his legs at her sides. "The boss must be getting serious with Sasuke-teme."

Karin becomes worried again, _'He's going to hurt Sasuke-kun!'_

The clone notices this and says, "Not to worry. I've got a link with the boss so I know what's going on over there and I'm sure this will all be ok." The clone thinks to himself. _'I hope'_

Karin settles down and cuddles further in his chest. _'He's so kind! He even wrapped me up to protect me from the Kyuubi's chakra.'_ She feels his muscles twinge as she pushes deeper into his chest. _'He reacts to me! Sasuke-kun never cares when I touch him. He just ignores me.'_ She takes a deep breath and freezes once more _'Oh shit.'_ Her body tingles and she feels like her nerves are ready to burst. _'It's that scent again. I can't stop myself!'_ She takes his arms and pulls them tighter around herself. She inches herself backwards in his hold until his groin was matched up with her buttocks. Slowly she tilts her head back into his neck and lets her red hair fall down his muscular shoulders. Taking off her glasses she turns her head and stares into his blue eyes. As red eyes meet blue she clamps down on the powerful legs surrounding her and begins to draw circle on his groin with her ass.

The clone moans, "Karin what are you doing?" He tries to stop her but is failing to keep his composure.

She purrs to him, "Mmmmmm Naruto-kun." She turns around and pushes him onto his back. Before he can protest she straddles him and lays across him. She slowly smells him until she stops at his neck. Eyeing up the muscular, tanned junction she leans in and licks it. "Ohhh you taste even better than you smell Naruto-kun." she says before she continues to lean forward and taste the jinchuuriki's skin.

"Karin stop this now." The clone says as he groans a bit.

Karin licks again and feels a twitch against her butt. "It feels like you don't want me to stop Naruto-kun." she says as she grinds on him to relieve the pressure she feels forming between her legs.

"I won't ask again Karin." the clone says in a serious tone.

She ignores him and grinds harder._ 'I can feel myself getting closer! How has this happened so fast? I've only ground on him for less than a minute and I'm about to explode!'_ She arches her back and moans, "NARUTO-KUUUN!" Her orgasm causes her juices to soak through her black shorts and onto Naruto's black pants as her pleasure only increases in intensity instead of dying down. _'This is unreal!'_ She violently grinds on Naruto to appease her desire.

"Did you just?" The clone says with the assumption so obvious there is no need to finish the sentence. Sighing the clone applies chakra to her neck and watches her unconscious body fall back with a thump. "Damn you Kyuubi-chan!" Naruto screams. Naruto sighs once more and stands. Looking down at his pants he groans as he sees the stains Karin made are beginning to dry. "The boss isn't gonna be happy when he sees this." The clone looks over and sees a wide eyed Jugo and Suigetsu staring at him.

"What the fuck!" Suigetsu yells. "We were right here man! Go get a fuckin room or somethin!"

Jugo calmly says, "That was highly abnormal even for her. Would you care to explain?" Jugo looks down at the unconscious Karin and cocks an eyebrow.

"I guess I have to now... and I was really trying to avoid this. I didn't have a choice, but to get near her when she started writhing in pain. It was an order from the boss to help you all in any way so you know that you can trust us."

"Shut up and explain already!" Suigetsu yells.

"Ok here goes." the clone thinks for a second. "Basically, I have merged with the Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra entirely and that has caused permanent physical changes, which are transferred even through clones that are made without the Kyuubi's chakra." The clone paces a bit and continues. "There are some less obvious changes and some that are blatant." He stops moving and looks at the two dumbstruck men. "What you guys just saw was a built in system to attract a mate."

The men stared at the lady-killer for a few moments before Suigetsu laughs and says, "Seducing our teammate is not a good way to get us to trust you ya know?"

Naruto puts a hand to his head. "I can't control it. Once a woman gets close enough to smell me there is almost no way for her to resist the urge to mate with me unless I leave." the clone pleads to a laughing Suigetsu.

"Oh I feel soooooo bad for you." the blue haired man says sarcastically.

"It's irrelevant now." Jugo says "I believe before you said you wanted to speak with us about something?"

"Oh yes!" the clone perks up and says. "I wanted to talk to all three of you, but there's no way in hell I waking her up yet." the blonde man states.

"Get on with it already ya jackass" Suigetsu says as he looks away uncaringly.

The clone faces the two and stands firm. He looks at them with a serious expression before smiling widely. "I want you to offer you Konoha citizenship."

**Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu-fire release: great fireball technique**

**Futon: Atsugai- wind release: pressure damage**

**yami rasengan- dark rasengan**

T**hat's chapter three guys. I'm sorry about not getting to the Sakura love thing yet. It's coming up soon I promise! Next chapter will be the short ending to the fight and the return to Konoha.**

**How did you guys like my little lemony-lime thing with Karin? It's my first one ever! Dont worry though. This is still NaruSaku all the way. See ya!**


	4. The return

**Don't own Naruto.**

**Note: In my version of the story Tsunade doesn't land herself in a coma after she exhausts herself during the Pain attack. She is awake and well. Also, for my story, when Naruto henged into Sasuke to kiss Sakura when they were kids, Naruto followed through with the kiss before leaving to go to the bathroom.**

**Sorry this took so long everyone. I had to study for my mcat and I have mono, which made me slightly delirious so my writing was really off for a bit. Well here's chapter 4 for you!**

**Konoha**

Inside Hokage tower a pink haired woman stares out a window overlooking the city. She stands at five feet and five inches and has shoulder length pink silky hair. Her toned body and creamy skin are the envy of many women and the source of lust for many men in her village. The curves of her body show easily against the tight navy colored skirt and form fitted red shirt she wears while working. However, the look that reflects in her beautiful green eyes is one of disdain. As the people in the streets of Konoha conduct business and go about their lives, they do so without noticing the scrutinizing stare of the kunoichi glaring down at them. Although she is known as one of the best healers in the entire fire nation, she casts uncaring looks at the people of her own village.

For the past three years she has been losing interest in the on-goings of those around her. Many have noticed her slow degradation and some tried to help. The only person with any luck concerning her apathy is Ino Yamanaka. Even so, the most the platinum blonde girl could get out of her pink haired friend was a childish argument here and there.

She sighs inwardly. _'It wasn't supposed to take you this long Naruto. When are you coming back?'_

(Flashback three years earlier)

Just after the Pain attack, the village is regrouping and rebuilding. The efforts of everyone working together have been very fruitful as much of the village has been rebuilt and almost everyone has decent housing again. Naruto's clones have been running around and rebuilding almost non-stop to achieve this and Naruto himself is paying the exhausting price for his commitment to his village. As the exhausted blonde lay in his tent after a particularly hard day of work the pink haired kunoichi walks in.

"Hey Naruto. How are you feeling today?" she asks him with a caring smile on her face.

He turns his head to look at her and yawns, the tiredness of his body showing in his eyes. "Hey Sakura-chan. I feel fine. I'm just really tired today."

She points her finger at him accusingly. "Well that's what happens when you create so many clones and have them work every day without proper rest!" Her voice may be raised, but Naruto knows it is out of concern.

He sighs and smiles at her. "Ok ok Sakura-chan. I'll take it easy for a bit once I'm done helping rebuild. Please just settle down." he says as he waves his hands in front of himself in an innocent manner.

She puts her hand down and looks at him with worry. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard Naruto. I just don't want to see you get hurt." Her eyes begin to tear up as she looks at the young man in front of her, his broken and bruised body once again used for the sake of the village. As she watches her friend breathing heavily from the hard work he has been doing, the medic notices she has been thinking about him a lot lately. _'He does so much for us and never asks for anything in return.'_ Lately she has been noticing things about Naruto that she used to overlook. _'He's become so strong for us. Why?'_ She looks at his chest rising up and down and notices his enlarged muscles, which have been pushed to their limit by all of the work he has been doing lately.

He puts on his cheerful grin. "No need to worry about me! I'll be fine Sakura-chan." He throws his arms up for emphasis and winces.

_'His muscles must be sore from all of the work he's been doing. I know how I can help him. Even if it's just a little.'_ The pink haired medic sighs. "Get on your stomach Naruto. I'm going to give you a massage." She says as she removes her gloves.

He just waves his hands in front of himself again and says "No need to trouble yourself Sakura-chan! I swear I'm fine." Once again he winces from the pain of using his muscles.

She ignores him and crouches in front of his face. "Shut up Naruto. I can see in how much pain you're in right now. This will make you feel much better. Please at least let me do this to save me some worry." she casts him another worried glance.

He looks as if he was about to protest, but instead he sighs in defeat. "Fine. You win." He begins to turn around but Sakura stops him.

She blushes. "Umm Naruto. You need to take off your shirt first."

He matches her blush with his own. "Hehe oh yeah. Sorry." He grabs at the hem of his shirt and painfully starts to lift it off. He tries to take it off, but is forced to stop about half way because his muscles start to spasm to heavily for him to move any farther. "Ugh Sakura-chan? Can you help me get this thing off?" He says as he struggles with the small piece of clothing stuck to his face due to it being drenched by his sweat.

The red faced woman stands in awe of the sight before her. She notices his face is covered with his shirt and she almost reaches out to caress his tanned, hard chest while she has the chance. The flustered teen can see his body glisten with the sweat of a hard days work and can feel the inviting heat pour off of him. She finally snaps back into reality and collects herself. "Oh ummm yeah." She helps him take his shirt off the rest of the way and throws it off to the side as she watches his muscles strain while he turns onto his back. She notices he's ready and slowly crawls over to him as her arms carefully reach over his back to begin her work.

With hard labor like the kind Naruto has been doing the medic knows a lot of pressure is put on the lower back so that is where she starts. She charges her hands with chakra and caresses his lower back to feel him go lax under her touch. The young woman smirks and is secretly happy she has this kind of effect on him. The pinkette's smirk grows wider as she feels his tight muscles relax, but still she notices how firm they still feel in her hands. Her face goes red again and she thanks kami that he's looking away right now.

"You're right Sakura-chan. This feels great." Naruto says in a subdued manner.

"Quiet down and relax Naruto." she scolds him even though he complimented her. _'Why do I always do that?'_ She works her hands down his built arm and shudders. _'Why am I acting so funny around him now?'_ She feels him shudder the same way she did just moments ago and wonders what he's thinking. _'Sure he is attractive….. and kind….. and he makes me laugh, but he's my closest friend. I'm too afraid to lose him.'_ She gets her mind back onto business. "Alright I'm done with your back. Turn over."

He picks himself up with far less strain than before and he turns himself around. She looks down at his body and blushes again. She notices now that he's staring at her. His face possibly more red than hers is. "Umm thanks for this Sakura-chan. I already feel much better." He says while turning his face away from hers in embarrassment.

She looks down. "It's no problem Naruto. Just don't push yourself too hard anymore because I don't want to make this a habit."

He looks at her with a devious grin. "Of course Sakura-chan." he laughs to himself. _'I'm gonna push myself even harder tomorrow! I don't want to wait too long for another one of these.'_

She ignores his obvious look that tells her that he's going to ignore her advice and gets back to work. She rubs down his neck until she reaches his chest. Inner Sakura tells her that she needs more time to work on his pecs, but actual Sakura knows she's a horny liar. The makeshift massage therapist makes her way down to his well defined obliques, which cut their way in and disappear into his pant line. She sighs a bit when she can't see where they lead. _'Knock it off! Stop thinking like that!'_ She screams in her head before she notices Naruto stir.

The blonde jinchuuriki is staring at her with his big blue eyes and she is beginning to feel uncomfortable. An odd feeling overtakes her as she stares back into his eyes, it's like the world is causing them to sink towards each other. No matter how hard the pinkette tries to avert her gaze she feels like all she wants is to lean forward to stop this odd sensation growing in her chest. She had no idea that her face had already moved so close to his that he could feel her breath tickle his nose. "What is it Nar..."

She's cut off when he leans forward slightly and kisses her. Her lips erupt with sensations she's only felt once before. The world seems to melt around her as she feels Naruto's hand caress her cheek softly. As Sakura closes her eyes she returns the kiss. She puts her arms around him to support his tired frame and slowly rubs small circles on his back. Their soft lips touch each other gently as the two become lost in each other. She decides to take a step forward and begs for entrance into his mouth by rubbing her tongue up against his lower lip.

Naruto is in heaven. He finally gained the courage to act on his feelings for Sakura and she accepted him! While he relishes in the sensation of Sakura around him, he feels her tongue touch his lips. He eagerly complies with her request and feels the dance begin between each other. His veins are full of adrenaline and nervous energy, while the pains he just had are completely gone and are replaced instead with the shaky nerves of a teenage boy kissing the girl he loves. As he feels her hand snake its way into his hair he pulls her down on top of him. She now has one hand on his chest and the other playing with his blonde tresses as she lay flat against him between his legs. The hold he has around Sakura's waist is new to him, but it feels warm and gentle just like her soft pink lips.

Sakura basks in the feeling and remembers the first time she was kissed. Everything was the same about this kiss as it was the first time except before she was a naïve child and it was Sasuke, not Naruto, she shared it with. It was so tender, so sweet, so full of love. With her eyes shut and her mind overloaded with past and present memories intertwined she moans out loud. "Ohhh Sasuke-kun." She freezes. Her eyes shoot open after she realizes the gravity of what she has just done. They both remain speechless as the two wide eyed teens stare at each other, the hurt in Naruto's eyes almost palpable. He clenches his chest and heaves aloud while he gently pushes Sakura off of him. She hears him scream under mumbled breath and she breaks down. His world has just been destroyed with a single name. Gasping on all fours Naruto's cries quickly die down. The blonde man's breath evens out and his face dons and emotionless mask. Sakura steels her heart and finally finds the will to speak. "Naruto I didn't!"

She is cut off by the heartbroken man. "No. I apologize Sakura. I shouldn't have done that." He looks at her with a stoic face, but she can see that his eyes are full of hurt and anguish. She breaks down more as she hears him leave out the -chan from her name and cries aloud. "Don't worry. I know what I have to do now." Naruto says as he stands up and puts his shirt back on. The green eyed medic watches as he moves out the opening in the tent and she feels the pressure of more tears build up in her throat.

She stands up and rushes out after him, but he's already gone. The pinkette looks around for a few moments before she cries again. "What have I done?" She screams over and over to herself. She stops crying and comes to a decision about what she will do that she is positive will work. The medic decides to wait in his tent for him so she can fully explain herself when he gets back. "I have to make this right. You don't understand Naruto." She closes her red puffy eyes and falls asleep on his makeshift cot he has in his tent. "I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me."

(line break)

Naruto leaves the tent and rushes through the forest without direction. He stops and faces an innocent old tree in the middle of the Konoha forest. In his anger the destroyed lover rips the tree to shreds. His fists fly in and out of the pine as he screams to himself. As wood and bark are flayed off of the trunk of the old tree he begins to calm down. The jinchuuriki falls to his knees and puts his bloody hands against his face. He watches the crimson liquid stop pouring out and the cuts heal themselves. He feels the bones he recently broke by pummeling the tree reform and retake their proper positions in his hands. "I understand. She can only be truly happy with Sasuke. I know that now." He stands up and makes his way to the Hokage's current base of operations. "I'm going to make her happy no matter what." With his purpose set, he speeds off to his destination.

(Line break)

The small shack that was recently built to hold up as a base was too small for Tsunade's comfort. The Hokage tower was being rebuilt, but because it was so large and had very little usage as housing it was decided that it wasn't a priority to finish it early. For now, she resides in what is basically just a wood shack with a bathroom, bedroom, and main living room, which was used as an office until better arrangements were made. In the attack by Pain everyone in the village lost all of their personal belongings because the entire village was decimated. The only saving grace in that is now she doesn't have to worry about any of her amenities taking up too much space in her cramped home. She sits down at her desk and sighs as she picks up the first sheet of a huge pile of papers she needs to sort through by the morning. The slug woman begins to read the document when she hears a knock at the door.

"Come in." The sannin says happy for the intrusion into her paperwork even though she just started. Naruto walks in with his head down and sits in the chair in front of her desk. She notices that he looks downtrodden, and that his eyes seem distant and sad. "Naruto? What's wrong?" she says worriedly.

He throws on a big fake smile. "Nothings wrong baa-chan! I just need to ask you for a favor." His body is rigid and stiff and he can't keep his eyes connected with Tsunade's for more than three seconds before he looks at the ground again.

She can see the obvious lie showing through his red eyes and fake smile. "What is it that you want?"

He perks up a bit. "I need a mission." He says quietly while still staring at the ground, biting his lip slightly.

'_This is about a mission?'_ She looks at her paperwork. "I have plenty of missions for you if you would like one." She starts to sift some folders next to her desk.

"I'm sorry. I mean I want to re-establish myself into a still active mission." He looks up at her. "I want to be reactivated into the Uchiha retrieval mission."

The slug princess looks at him in surprise. _'Is that why he's so unhappy? __The boy may sound more certain now, but he is definitely still shaken by something.'_

"I also request that Kakashi Hatake and Morino Ibiki come with me." He says with force.

She laces her fingers together and puts them under her chin. The busty sannin furrows her brow in thought. "I'm sorry Naruto. All three of you are valuable assets that I can't give up for the time you would need to accomplish this mission." She sighs. "The village just doesn't have enough money right now to let our best ninja go off for extended periods of time without completing any other missions."

Naruto jumps to his feet and slams his hands on her desk. "Then make it a mission to recover Sasuke while destroying the Akatsuki. Last we heard he joined up with them so going after the Akatsuki should lead us to him. Also, most of the people involved with the Akatsuki are A to S ranked missing ninja with enormous bounties on their heads. We will dispatch of them and send them back here to get the bounties. With all of the people involved with the Akatsuki we are sure to gain a profit from this." He basically pleads to her with the look of desperation in his eyes, while his hands are balled and trembling while his face loses its color.

She notices the wavering in his voice as he tries to sound affirmative. _'Why is he so adamant about this?'_ She looks down at her desk and tries to come up with a solution. The master medic sighs and grabs a mission requisition form from one of her drawers. "Fine. You can have this mission. You will leave tomorrow afternoon. Go prepare your things and say goodbye to people. There is no telling how long you will be gone. Sakura is going to be pretty upset about this." She watches Naruto flinch when she says Sakura's name.

He brings his hand to his chest and clutches it slightly. "Please let us leave today." He says in a whisper.

The legendary sucker is utterly surprised by this request. "Why today! Don't you want to have a little time here before you go?" she asks dumbfounded. _'What the hell is going on with him?'_ She notices him grabbing his chest and her eyes soften in sadness. "Naruto, tell me what's wrong. I know something is going on. Don't make me worry like this." She speaks softly to her fellow blonde. He pushes his head down more as if to think.

Minutes pass before he lifts his head again to show her his tearing eyes. "Please Tsunade-sama. I need to leave today." He feels his heart crushing again as Tsunade opens the wounds he recently acquired even farther.

She is taken aback. _'Tsunade-sama? He never calls me by my title or my name. I don't know what's going on, but he must be very serious if he's resorting to this to get out of here.'_ She sighs and finishes filling out the mission form. She hands it to Naruto sadly and says, "Here. Show this to Ibiki and Kakashi and they will leave with you…. tonight." She reluctantly holds out the document. He grabs the form, but she doesn't let go. She looks him in the eyes with a very worried stare. "Please... be careful Naruto. These people are looking for you and they are all very ruthless. Listen to Ibiki and Kakashi. If they say hide, you hide. If they say run, you better do it. I understand that you are very strong, but don't try to tackle the world." Her honest worry and care pour out through her words. She lets go of the form and he smiles a small, but loving smile.

He solemnly turns his back and moves towards the door. He reaches to the frame and without turning around whispers, "Thank you for caring for me." With that he runs out the door to collect his travel partners and leaves a very distraught hokage.

She wonders if she made a mistake. The blonde woman leans back in her chair and sighs. "This kid is gonna be the death of me." She pulls out a jug of sake and takes a few swigs. Looking at all the paperwork in front of her the sannin sighs and begins to start reading the document in between gulps of sake. "Things are going to be pretty boring around here for a while without him."

(Line break)

The next day Sakura walks into Tsunade's office to ask her about Naruto because he never came back to his tent the night before. She sees the blonde woman asleep on her desk drooling over a pile of unfinished paperwork.

"Tsunade-sama." The slug woman stirs and sits up. Her hair is strewn all over her face and dried spit is on the corners of her mouth. She reaches for her bottle of sake to find it empty. She angrily throws it off to the side and leans her face up against her hand to look at Sakura.

"What do you want Sakura?" She says unhappy to be woken up.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you Tsunade-sama. I was just wondering if you have seen Naruto at all." The pink haired girl says while looking at her feet.

"He didn't say goodbye huh? I thought he would've at least said it to you." the still slightly drunk hokage says.

"What do you mean Hokage-sama? Why would he say goodbye? Where has he gone?" the pink haired teen asks in a panic, her small frame shaking in worry.

Tsunade notices how flustered her apprentice is and raises a brow. "He came in yesterday evening and asked for a mission." She slurs most of her words, but the younger medic can understand the drunken speech of her master after hearing it so much.

The pinkette throws all formality out the window and raises her voice to her master. "What mission? When will he be back?" She screams to her teacher begging for an answer.

The drunken sannin holds her head in pain from her students loud exclamations. "The mission is to destroy the Akatsuki and retrieve Sasuke Uchiha. I don't know how long he will be gone, but it will probably be for quite a while." The inebriated princess hiccups and her face falls off of her hand causing her head to almost slam into her desk. She slowly picks herself up again and stares down her student.

The pink haired woman whimpers and puts her hand timidly over her mouth. "He's... gone?" Her green eyes erupt with tears she was holding back all morning as she covers her face with her hands in shame. Her heavy cries sober the inebriated hokage up a little.

The blonde woman stares at her sobbing subordinate with question. "Why are you crying Sakura? Does this have anything to do with why Naruto was acting so weird last night?"

Sakura tenses up. "What... did he say?" She asks with a worried look.

"He wouldn't tell me what was wrong. He just asked for the mission and left. What happened between you two?" The slug princess stands up and moves around her desk. She sits at its end and crosses her arms under her chest awaiting an answer from the younger medic. Tsunade sees the frightened look in Sakura's eyes and frowns. "Tell me what's wrong Sakura."

The panicked teen looks around the room for an exit, but decides that the sannin in front of her would never allow her to make it to the door. She looks away from her teacher with tears in her eyes and a lump in her throat. The heart-breaker begins the story of the previous night's events. "Well... I noticed how hard Naruto had been working recently to rebuild the village so I visited him." After a few minutes of storytelling with some parts leaving both the student and teacher blushing, like when she described Naruto's body, she finishes her story leaving an open mouthed Tsunade.

"Sakura... what you've done is..." She doesn't finish her sentence due to her stun at her subordinates actions. "Do you understand what you did?"

"I didn't mean it sensei! My feelings for Naruto are true!" She says excitedly. The pink haired girl looks down at the floor again. "It's just the kiss was so similar. It felt like the first kiss I ever had and I got lost in the moment. It was all so sudden! My feelings for Naruto are so new I didn't realize what I said until the kiss ended." She starts tearing up again and looks at Tsunade. "I'm so sorry!"

The blonde sannin looks down and holds out her hand to stop Sakura. "What you did was not just a simple blow to a man's ego Sakura. You have decimated him. I'm... not sure he will forgive you for this." She sighs loudly. Even though Tsunade is mad she can't remain angry at her student because she believes Sakura is truly sorry for what she has done. Now her only feelings are ones of remorse and sadness for her precious Naruto. _' He must be in so much pain right now.'_

The pink haired girl jumps into her teachers arms and sobs. "He hates me now!" Her teacher wraps her arms around her and rubs her back gently. She feels her pupil drenching her green robe with her tears, but the hokage tries to push aside any anger she may hold for her student at the moment and calm herself down before she speaks.

The slug princess holds her student tighter hoping to ease her pain. "He could never hate you." She tries to say as gently as possible. "He will be back one day. You can talk to him then, but for now you need to calm down." The pinkette moves out of the blonde woman's hold and sits down again. She tries to heed her masters advice and regain her composure to settle her raging mind. Instead her legs fly to her chest and she holds herself in the fetal position as she breaks down once again. She doesn't calm down that day, or the day after, or many days after that.

(Flashback end)

Sakura stares idly outside the Hokage's window. She looks at the beautiful city and the dense woodland surrounding it as the leaves fall from the trees and the children play in the parks. She sees a messenger hawk fly to the roost on top of the tower. The medic doesn't care about any of it. She's just killing time until the Hokage is finished with her paperwork so she can give her report on the state of the healthcare facilities in town.

She sighs as she brings up her memory of her night with Naruto yet again. She likes to cut off the memory just before the kiss gets broken off, before she made her mistake and screwed everything up. She again thinks about the blonde man that has haunted her dreams for three years. The only updates she receives about him are the bodies of missing ninja he sends back occasionally. She still remembers smiling when Kisame Hoshigaki's body showed up in the morgue. His heart had been torn apart by a rasengan to the chest and there was barely any of his insides left. She could almost feel Naruto's chakra still pouring off of the wound as she traced, with her gloved hands, the perfect circle the rasengan creates when it's thrusted into things.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she was completely oblivious to the messenger that arrived at the door. It wasn't until she hears the Hokage gasp does she turn her attention away from the window. She watches as the Hokage stares wide eyed at a parchment in front of her. The paper is shaking as the buxom blonde lets out short, sharp gasps. Finally, the blonde sannin puts down the paper and smiles while tears drip down her eyes. The genjutsu making Tsunade's normally youthful appearance disengages as her hands fly up to her face and she begins sniffling.

"He's coming back." she laughs hysterically. "I'm so happy I can't even hold my genjutsu anymore."

The pink haired woman jerks forward in happy disbelief. "Do you mean..."

The old slug princess sniffles again and nods her head. "It's Naruto."

**Back with Naruto and Sasuke**

"**You think just because no one ever broke his shield that it's indestructible?" **Two large red claws close together in front of Naruto. As they begin to open a black sphere takes shape. Naruto breathes out slowly **"Yami Rasengan"**

Susanoo lowers his shield in front of Sasuke and braces for the attack. The black haired man gazes upon the ball in the blonde's hands. It is pitch black and appears to be just like any other rasengan he's seen in the past, but it seems to have blue lightning running around it. He also notices that Naruto seems to be struggling to hold it in his hands, his knees look ready to buckle, his veins are almost popping out of his skin, and his muscles all look as if they are being pushed to the extreme.. _'Just how heavy is that thing?_' Still the raven haired man is fearless. "You're wasting your time Naruto. You wont be able to get through the shield. Just give up." He says looking down at the jinchuuriki even though he was eye level with him.

The blonde looks up at the other man who thinks he's safely tucked behind his ethereal samurai. **"Haha... Hey teme... don't get a creak in your neck from looking down at me so much."** The deep tone Naruto used made his statement sound like anything but a joke. **"This match was over long before now Sasuke." **Looking down again Naruto notices his creation is ready for use. He laboriously puts his first foot forward and the ground around his foot cracks under the weight.

Sasuke braces for impact as he watches Naruto increasing his speed towards him and offhandedly he worries a little. He noticed something funny just before Naruto took his first step. _'All the debris in the area is moving towards Naruto.'_ It is then Sasuke feels a tug from Naruto's direction. _'I think that ball is pulling me towards him! How?'_ Using his sharingan he analyzes the new rasengan, he can't see anything special about except for one peculiar thing. Light appears to be getting sucked into the rasengan along with the debris he noticed before. Realization of what seems like a physical impossibility hit him. _'That thing is so dense even light can't escape it! I thought only black holes could do that!'_

Before Sasuke can pass another thought the dense, dark rasengan crashes into Susanoo's shield. They both feel the crushing pressure as their two strongest just come into contact. After what seemed like an eternal standstill an unimaginable explosion occurs at the point of contact leaving a mushroom cloud hundreds of feet tall. Minutes pass before the debris finally settles enough for the two fighters to see each other. Naruto is laying down on the ground with his head up while Sasuke is leaning on one knee staring into his counterparts eyes. They are both badly damaged and breathing heavily. Naruto's shirt is ripped clean off and his pants are tattered beyond repair while his body has deep gashes across his torso and legs. Sasuke seems to be in better condition with only a few gashes on his upper body, but he looks utterly exhausted.

"You know Naruto, if you didn't pull that attack in the end you would've reached me." Sasuke says as he pushes his hands off his knee to stand up. His stance waivers for a moment, but he stands firm after a minute of wobbling.

Naruto begins to pick himself up as well, all traces of the kyuubi are gone as his eyes have returned to their normal bright blue. "The point wasn't to kill you teme, just to destroy the barrier you put between us. I didn't like it there." he states simply as he makes his way to his feet holding his sides in pain.

Sasuke notices the state of his friend. His body is bleeding profusely and he wonders how much his friend can bleed in one day. "Well because of that I have won our match. You can barely stand and I still got some power left in me." Naruto just laughs. Even though the blood pouring out of the blonde's wounds increases because of his laughter he can't seem to help himself. The jinchuuriki chuckles for minutes before he finally wipes the last tear of laughter from his eyes and calms down. "What is so funny dobe?" Sasuke asks in annoyance.

"You are teme. I already told you our match was over long before now and you never even noticed it haha." Naruto lifts his right hand and points to his own back while chuckling a little. "I still can't believe you haven't noticed them. I mean there are just so many that I put on you."

Sasuke rips off his shirt and tries to look over his shoulder. He can't see his back to well so he activates his sharingan and his eyes go wide with horror. _'I'm covered in some type of seal! There must be at least fifty of them! When did he put these on me?'_

Naruto laughs again causing his weak body to spurt a little more blood. "I put them on you during the taijutsu match. Almost every time you waved off one of my attacks I added another seal."

Sasuke sighs before he asks the obvious question of his demise. "What do they do?" He looks up at his friend and watches as every one of the blondes muscles begin to tighten in preparation for something. Sasuke gets into his stance and waits for the attack he knows must be coming.

Naruto gives his friend a wild grin. "I'm so glad you asked." Sasuke watches Naruto seemingly disappear and the last thing the black haired man hears before his world goes dark is "Hiraishin no jutsu."

(Line break)

Ibiki and Kakashi finally make there way to Naruto and Sasuke's battlefield once they sensed it was over. They watch Naruto standing above an unconscious Sasuke as his wounds seem to steam off of his body. One of Naruto's clone's is gathering up the pieces of the destroyed decapitator sword as the two elder ninja approach the real Naruto. Kakashi clicks his tongue a few times and a hawk comes out of the trees behind them to perch on the scarecrow ninja's shoulder. The silver haired copy ninja looks at his blonde student with pride. "Since you seem to be all done here, should I send word to the village?"

Naruto shuffles around a bit and looks at his new company. "Yeah. I thinks it's about time we went home." Naruto looks around a bit and smiles. "Don't forget to mention the new company that are a little deeper in the woods. They've decided to come with us. However that Suigetsu guy was really pissed when my clone told him that I broke his sword." Naruto laughs and scratches the back of his head and in the words of one of his best friends, "Plus there's that troublesome woman." Naruto shudders and turns a little red as he thinks about the memories of his clone's experience with Karin. Kakashi finishes writing a message and attaches it to the hawk before he sends it away. Its wings flutter in the wind as it makes a bee line for Konoha to deliver it's message.

Kakashi steps forward and reaches down to grab Sasuke. "I'll take him back."

Naruto reaches down and stops Kakashi with a hand on the shoulder. "No I will. I made a promise to bring him back myself and that's what I intend to do." He says before he leans down and throws the unconscious Uchiha over his back in a piggy back style fashion. "You two head off our guests and return to Konoha with them. We wouldn't want any funny business." The two elder jonin just sigh and nod their heads.

Kakashi gives a soft smile under his mask. "Fine. We'll do this your way. We aren't too far from home anyways." The jonin jump away while the clone Naruto made follows close behind them with the pieces of Suigetsu's sword.

Naruto looks towards Konoha and sighs. "I guess it's time to face the music." He jumps out of his battleground and into the trees. His body has at least physically recovered from his fight with Sasuke so jumping from tree to tree isn't to difficult even though his chakra is still quite depleted. Even the extra weight of Sasuke doesn't bother him while he jumps. "I should be back just before nightfall." Naruto tells himself.

Naruto almost falls off the tree he's on when he hears a voice coming from his back. "So we're headed back then?" Sasuke says wearily.

"Whoo you scared me man." Naruto says as he sighs in relief. "Anyways yeah were going home." Naruto begins to jump again and after a few minutes of silence he strikes up a conversation. "So are you excited to go home?" Naruto asks in honest curiosity. He feels Sasuke stir a bit on his back.

"Yeah. However I'm not looking forward to all the busy work I'll have to do." Sasuke almost scoffs out.

"Like what? Maybe I can help?" Naruto turns his head to give his friend a smile.

Sasuke smiles back and sighs. "It's not the kind of thing you can help with Naruto. Re-establishing a clan is a lot of paperwork and red tape. Plus I will need to raise a family so I will need to choose a wife soon enough and..."

Sasuke is cut off before he can continue. Naruto says quietly and sadly, "Have you thought of a wife yet?"

Sasuke was surprised by the question since he didn't think it was a big deal. "Well since it would be very helpful to get the rest of the clan heads on my side I believe the best choice is either Hyuuga Hinata or Hyuuga Hanabi." Naruto stops jumping and lands on a tree branch. Sasuke can swear he almost feels some killer intent coming off of his friend. Silence overtakes them for a few moments before the former Akatsuki member speaks. "Why have we stopped?"

"You can't." Naruto says plainly, but it seemed like there was a hint a malice in his voice. "Please give Sakura a chance... I think she still loves you and I can't allow you to break her heart." Naruto says in a pleading voice this time. Sasuke can feel Naruto shaking as he tries to restrain his emotions. The grip the jinchuuriki has around Sasuke's legs tightens and the Uchiha winces. Naruto loosens his hold a little and sighs. "I'm sorry about that." The blonde says with a sad tone.

Sasuke groans, "It's alright Naruto," Sasuke re-situates himself on his friends back, "and I don't know why this means so much to you, but I will speak with Sakura about this. If she does have feelings for me as you say I will not turn her away. The Haruno household may not be the strongest clan, but the whole marriage thing just seems like a formality to me anyways. I can always come up with another way for the other clans to trust me." Sasuke says to his blonde friend in hopes of comforting him. In actuality Naruto was only more depressed as he feels Sakura getting even farther away because he knows Sasuke won't keep turning her away now that he wants to start a family.

"Thank you." Naruto says solemnly. He will remain jealous of his friend, but forever contented that the ones he love will be happy. _'Just don't think about this too much. You know this was supposed to happen.'_

The rest of the ride was in silence. Sasuke never had the strength to get off of Naruto's shoulders so he was carried the entire way by the jinchuuriki. It didn't really bother Naruto much because he considers any extra work for him training anyways. As the scenery starts to look familiar again both men realize they are almost home. They nostalgically look around as they pass some old training grounds they used that still have the scars of their sparring sessions. Finally the gates of their home were visible. They see the familiar markings of Konoha and watch the guards standing at attention as they approach.

The two walk through the gates as the sun sets behind them. "Like I said, just before nightfall." Naruto says with his head turned smiling at his friend.

"Ummm Naruto. Look in front of you." Sasuke says almost in awe.

Naruto turns his head to the front. "What's the big deal?" The blonde says before his mouth drops. Everyone was there to greet them. Naruto could see almost everyone he new from the village standing in front of the gates. Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Hanabi, Kiba, Akamaru, Shino, Shikamaru, Tsunade, Shizune, Teuchi, Ayame, Lee, Gai, Kurenai and her child, Konohamaru and his team, Anko, and many others from around the village were all there to greet him and Sasuke. Farther to the right he also noticed a wide-eyed Ino standing next to a similar looking Sakura. _'They all came to greet us?'_

Sakura and Ino were the first to notice it, but certainly not the last. _'Naruto is shirtless!'_ An almost collective sigh came from the female half of the crowd that gathered to see them. Naruto didn't notice it however as he was still in shock of seeing everyone at the gate waiting for them. Murmurs start between the women watching them. With Naruto standing there, his shirt having been blown off, and his pants singed to almost nothing, the women were appraising him like a piece of meat. Sasuke noticed the odd looks they were giving Naruto and he sighed in relief. _'Thank Kami the fangirls are off of me. I feel bad for Naruto now though. I don't think he understands what's coming.' _Naruto lets Sasuke off slowly and the Uchiha stumbles to his feet.

"Hey everyone." Naruto says as he waves around to everyone and the women watch as his abs stretch back an forth from his raised arm. The setting light behind them accentuate the rigid curves in Naruto's muscles as he puts his arm down. _'Why won't they say anything?'_ A gust of wind picks up behind Naruto and blows towards the crowd. Naruto watches every women take ravenous smells of the air around them before every gaze locks on Naruto. The men in the crowd just look around in confusion at the pink cheeked women that now surround them.

"**Haha"** Naruto hears the Kyuubi laugh in his head.

Naruto decides it's time to make a plea. _'Kyuubi-chan please control this pheromone thing! I really need to talk with them now and this isn't helping.'_

"**Okay I will control it if that's what you want."** The Kyuubi says deviously so Naruto knows that she going to pull something funny.

Suddenly, every women in the crowd is jettisoned backwards as a shower of blood sprouts from their noses in a cartoon fashion. Uncontrollable moans come from all of them and Naruto grows confused.

_'I thought you were going to stop the pheromones?'_ Naruto outwardly pouts.

"**Ohhh you wanted me to stop the pheromones. You said control them so I did. I just turned them all the way up haha."** Naruto can see the Kyuubi smirking in his mind. The smell of the women's arousal was thick in the air and Naruto could feel its effect on him. Every single woman in the crowd was now laying on their backs clutching any erogenous zone on their bodies that they could get their hands on. He could tell from the moans coming from his audience, they were all having orgasms right at the entrance to Konoha as he stood there and watched them.

_'You just made every woman I've ever cared about orgasm right in front of me! Why would you do that?'_ Naruto yells to the Kyuubi in ferocious anger.

"**Relax Naruto-kun. I've stopped. Plus, I don't think any of these women will complain. It's not like you touched them or anything."** The Kyuubi doesn't care at all about Naruto's gripes so long as she is having fun.

Naruto shifts around nervously. _'Thats not the point.'_ The women have all started to calm down and have begun to stand up to brush themselves off. Confused murmurs go throughout the crowd, but Naruto just ignores them. Before anyone can ask what just happened Naruto speaks. "Can someone bring Sasuke to the hospital for me please? I need to make my report." Almost before Naruto can finish his sentence two figures come dashing out of the crowd and slide on their knees in front of Naruto with their faces towards the ground as if the jinchuuriki were some sort of lord.

"Please allow us Naruto!" Says one figure while the other yips in confirmation of his masters orders, their faces seem to bury further into the dirt.

"Kiba? What's going on here?" Naruto says confusedly to his friend in front of him.

"**Uh-oh. I think this is another effect of the pheromones."** The Kyuubi says non-chalantly.

_'What do you mean?_ _What's happened to him and Akamaru.'_ Naruto crosses his arms over his chest and looks down at his long time friends.

"**It seems you have become the alpha male of the Inuzuka mutts. That scent probably hit the rest of the clan on their grounds as well. I'm sure they'll be here shortly."** Moments later twenty more people showed up, all bore the familiar facial markings of the Inuzuka tribe and all had ninken with them. The murmurs of the crowd stop instantly. **"I'm sorry kit, but I can't turn down the pheromones enough for them to stop this behavior. Their sense of smell is too sensitive."**

As the entire Inuzuka clan stares at the blonde man a feeling of unease settles in Naruto's stomach. A beautiful older woman with wild brown hair and purple lipstick walks forward from the group and stops in front of Naruto. Her animalistic looks and wild demeanor are, in Naruto's eyes, quite attractive. In a manner that does not beget her crazy appearance she gracefully bows at the waist before lifting up her head to give Naruto a wild smile. "My name is Inuzuka Tsume and I am the current alpha female of the Inuzuka tribe." Naruto feels Sasuke's weight drift off his shoulder and he notices Kiba holding the black haired man as gentle as possible, almost as if he thought his life depended on Sasuke's safety. Before Naruto can thank him he feels a hand on his chest. Looking forward he sees that Tsume has pushed her body up against the blue eyed man and is perusing his body with her hands as if she owns him. "Hmmmmm yes. You will be a perfect mate." She says in a low sexy tone. Naruto would normally put a stop to this madness, but he is far too shocked. He knows this is Kiba's mother because he can smell it on her, but here she is now licking his chest while Kiba slowly meanders away with Sasuke on his shoulder to follow Naruto's orders!

Finally someone from the crowd speaks. "Tsume that is enough!" The busty blonde sannin steps forward to take command and Tsume lets go of Naruto. "I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm going to find out. Right Naruto?" She casts an accusing glare at the young jinchuuriki.

Naruto's face goes a little red. He looks at Tsunade, one of the woman that only moments ago he had writhing in ecstasy by the mere smell of him, and he can still see the look of hunger in her eyes just like Tsume has in hers. "Hai baa-chan."

Tsume scoffs, "Whatever." She looks at Naruto and gives him a seductive smile, the lust evident in her slitted animal eyes. "I'll be back for you my little sex kitten." She jumps away and the entire Inuzuka clan follows except for Kiba who was slowly walking Sasuke towards the hospital.

Naruto turns to engage Tsunade, but stops when a kunai is stabbed through his gut. _'Can't I get a break from excitement!'_ Naruto coughs up blood and looks down to see a white hand retracting back into the ground. "Zetsu!" Naruto calls out to inform everyone who his assailant was. _'What does he want?'_ Naruto looks at his wound and notices that it is shallow and repairable. _'If he's not trying to get me then that means!'_ Naruto looks over just in time to see Kiba get thrown to the side like a rag doll by Zetsu, leaving Sasuke defenseless. Naruto's wound spits out blood and he winces in pain. _'I have to get to him!'_ However, Naruto doesn't panic at all because Zetsu has no idea he has already been tagged.

Little did Naruto know, another blonde is ready to act on his behalf. While some are stunned at the rapidly changing events that have come with Naruto and Sasuke's arrival, Ino Yamanaka is not. She jumps forward ready to enact a plan. _'Naruto has done so much for us! Now it's my turn to help him! Even if that means helping Sasuke for him.'_ Her hands form the signs for her family jutsu. _'I cant get to him in time. I don't have a choice, but to use my jutsu to immobilize him.'_ Ino gets Zetsu in her sights and yells "SHINTENSHIN NO JUTSU!" She tries to help Sasuke, but is far too late.

Zetsu stands above Sasuke ready to strike the traitor, confident he has dispatched of Naruto for the time being. As his hand comes down for the kill he feels his gut wrench as if it were being ripped away with a wood chipper. Naruto has appeared below him using the seal he placed on his opponents hand and has wasted no time dispatching of the intruding Akatsuki member. The rasengan inside Naruto's hand is boring through Zetsu's stomach as bone, bile, and blood fly over the blonde man's bare torso, leaving a hollowed out Zetsu falling to the ground.

_'It's too late! I can't stop the jutsu!'_ Ino is panicked as she sees Naruto rip Zetsu into shreds and stand in the exact spot the plant man did. She feels her consciousness shoot towards Naruto and there is nothing she can do to stop it.

Naruto turns to look at her before he reaches out his hand in a desperate plea. "Ino! Cancel the..." The platinum blonde woman hears Naruto's voice slow down as if time was stopping.

Ino looks around in confusion. Everyone who gathered to see Naruto come back is still there, except there are all frozen in place. Still locked in place like a statue, Naruto's hand is reaching towards her while his face almost looks... scared. _'This doesn't look like a mindscape._ _This is exactly where we just were.'_ She furrows her brow in thought. _'I don't understand. I should be in Naruto's body. Did I get trapped in some sort of time-space jutsu?'_ She looks around again for clues. _'No I can't be._ _I felt my jutsu engage and I felt my consciousness go into Naruto so this has to be his mind, but this has never happened.'_ The blonde mind walker steps forward to Naruto's still body. She runs her hand down his muscular arms and shudders when she remembers the powerful orgasm she experienced by his scent. The seed of her attraction to Naruto may have been planted before he left on his mission, but now there is no denying that fact that he is everything a girl could want. The blonde woman stops feeling up Naruto for a moment to look at his face. "Why does he look so frightened?"

Seemingly out of nowhere a seductive voice enters the frozen scene and cause Ino to gasp in fear. **"He's worried about you I'm sure."** The blonde teen has no idea what she has just encountered or the horrible things she will witness because of this.

**Well that's chapter 4 everyone! I hope you liked it. I'm taking your advice and making the chapters longer. Also, I tried to add to the descriptiveness but dammit it's hard for me to do. With the reports I'm used to writing I need to only write the bare-bones data so that I can fit everything into a reasonable sized biology paper. **

**Oh well. Please tell me how I did! Thanks for reading everyone!**


	5. Naruto's first days back

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Enjoy!**

**Outside the gates of Konoha (outside Naruto's mind)**

Everyone outside of Naruto's mind watches as he tosses Zetsu's destroyed corpse aside. No one in the crowd so much as flinches as the fully white clone of the plant man hits the ground with an unforgiving thump and whatever is left of his insides pour out over the soil. The people in the crowd are mostly ninja so violence like this barely affects them and any civilians that witness Naruto's carnage understand these things come with living in a ninja village, many of them have unfortunately seen worse. Still, most the civilians who thought they came to see Naruto's peaceful homecoming quickly clear out and the ninja present fan out and check for any other enemies. Those left watch as the blonde savior turns in fear and yells "Ino! Cancel the jutsu!" By the time he finishes his sentence Naruto knows it's too late. Ino's slender form slumps to the ground, but Naruto knows it's not due to her body being uninhabited because he felt her consciousness leave him and return to its rightful place already. Even though it may have seemed like Ino was only in Naruto's mind for a split second to the people around them, she could have actually been in there for an eternity for all anybody else knew. The eyes of the receding villagers and alert shinobi turn to the quietly sobbing mind-walker on her knees in front of them. Ino's hands cover her face, but from the sound of the choking breaths she is forcefully taking it is easy to judge she must have tears flowing down her cheeks.

No one is sure what has just happened, but a few of Ino's fellow ninja can guess. Everyone is too surprised by the appearance of Zetsu and Ino's sudden crying fit to react and help her. The first person to even move towards Ino is her best friend and top medic Sakura. The pinkette bends down to see what's wrong, but can't see anything physically wrong with her. She remembers hearing Ino activate her jutsu but assumes she must have canceled it because its target was destroyed. She places a worried hand on Ino's shoulder to try to calm her down, but to her surprise Ino slaps her hand away and cringes at the unwelcome touch. She glares at the pink haired medic with disdain before she again covers her face and weeps.

Sakura is extremely confused. "What's wrong Ino?" The blonde woman says nothing, but she opens her fingers that are over her eyes to look at the shirtless blonde man covered in human remains. Sakura sees her look at Naruto and becomes enraged. _'What did he do to her?'_ She was about to charge up to him and smack him for answers like she used to, but he was already walking towards the duo.

Naruto crouches down in front of Ino and sighs. Blood drips off of his blonde and red hair, while he sloughs a little chunk of Zetsu's sternum off of his shoulder with his hand. Once he finishes cleaning himself off a little he leans forward and envelops Ino in a hug. "It's ok." Naruto says in the most soothing voice possible, while he rubs her back. Her hands slowly come up around her fellow blonde's back and she cries into his blood soaked shoulder.

Ino pushes off the ground and knocks Naruto over to lie on top of him. She squeezes the jinchuuriki so tight he feels his air supply being cut off. She cries even louder while what's left of the earlier crowd tries to imagine what caused this to happen. After a minute of the blondes caressing each other, Ino's cries eventually die down to quiet sobs and she loosens her death grip around Naruto. Ino whimpers as if she is trying to speak, but she is unable to form the words.

Naruto sits up and gently brings Ino with him. Sakura notices that Ino put her hand over Naruto's abs so she could feel them flex as he leans forward and she growls to herself. The blonde man stands up and simultaneously helps Ino to her feet because she still hasn't let go of him since she tackled him to the ground. "Look Ino. Everything is ok. I'm sorry, but I have things I have to do now. We can talk later." He says calmly before he tries to remove her hands from around him, but to his surprise she won't let him go.

Ino grips him tighter, but doesn't say anything; she is going to let her actions speak for her. The mind walker just holds Naruto like her life depends on it and she has no intention of letting go. Sakura hears sobs coming from her blonde friend again and she feels like someone needs to explain what is going on or she just might burst from confusion.

Before Sakura could say anything Naruto speaks up again. "Ino-chan" he says softly, which causes the girl to stop crying and perk up while making Sakura's heart drop slightly, "Later." He states before using a substitution jutsu to switch places with Sakura. He looks at the blonde absentmindedly squeezing the wrong person and turns to the pinkette. Cerulean bore into green as he looks into her eyes and Naruto can't help but to think she still looks so beautiful. "Sakura." He breathes out just before he turns to make his way towards Kiba.

Sakura watches Naruto walk away and drops her head in sadness. She was so enveloped in her own misery she didn't even notice the rapidly tightening grip around her torso until she was almost out of breath. Sakura looks down at Ino to see gritted teeth and rage filled eyes staring back at her. "Ino.. ugh I... can't... breathe..." Ino's eyes momentarily go wide before she releases her grip around Sakura and lets her hit the ground roughly. Sakura holds her ribs and coughs as air comes rushing back into her lungs.

Ino sits down next to her friend and pulls her legs to her chest. "Why did you do that Ino-pig?" Sakura yells out to her best ability, which isn't very loud at the moment. The blonde sighs and turns to her. As Sakura looks deep into Ino's eyes she sees how bad the situation really is. Her eyes reflect hurt and pain the likes of which Sakura doesn't think Ino has ever actually seen. Sakura isn't sure how long they stared at each other, but eventually the silent blonde slowly gets up and walks towards the village in a crawl. _'Did she see Naruto's memories?' _Sakura starts to heal her bruised ribs._ 'She must have seen what I've done to him. I didn't think it would affect her like this though. There must be more to it.'_ She stands up and dusts herself off. _'That will have to wait for now. I need to talk to Naruto.'_ Sakura turns around to see Naruto shunshin away with Tsunade and she sighs. _'Thats ok. Naruto is back now and I have time to talk to him.'_ She smiles a real smile for the first time in what seems like forever. '_Plus, I think I know where they're going.'_ She eyes up the hokage tower and begins to trudge towards it.

(Line break)

Naruto is walking away as fast as he can from Sakura and Ino after using his substitution jutsu. _'I need to avoid her or else I might do something stupid again.'_ As hard as he tries not to, he starts to think about Sakura again. He thinks about her silky pink hair as it lightly falls over her shoulders and the light from the nearly set sun cascading across her delicate features. He wanted so badly to reach for her smooth, milky white skin that looks so soft to the touch and gently run his fingers across her beautiful cheeks that adorn her face. It didn't go unnoticed by him that she pouted as he turned to walk away. She probably had no idea that small act almost made him stop where he was and turn around. To Naruto, when Sakura pursed her plump lips together he wanted nothing more than to feel them against his skin again. Seeing her was the most painful reminder of what was never and will never be his. Before he can sulk any more, he arrives in front of a prone Kiba. "Hey buddy are you alright?"

Kiba stirs a little and gets onto his knees in front of Naruto. "I'm sorry Naruto. I couldn't protect Sasuke like you ordered." His voice was unbelievably forlorn as he sat there breathing hard from the hit Zetsu gave him.

Naruto gets on one knee in front of Kiba and puts on a huge grin. "No worries man! Everything's fine. Sasuke's alright. See!" He points to Sasuke who was slowly making his way towards them, using the sheathe of his chokuto as a cane to help him stabilize himself. Kiba looks up and sighs in relief when he sees Sasuke limping towards them.

Sasuke stops in front of the two friends. "I don't exactly know what just happened, but I don't really care either so it's ok if you don't explain."

Naruto looks at the new arrival. "How are you? He didn't get you did he?" Naruto asks while looking Sasuke up and down for any wounds he didn't give him in their fight.

Sasuke waves him off. "No. Kiba blocked the first hit, but got thrown to the side afterward. Without Kiba my body was so weak I couldn't even stand properly so I fell down. That's when you came."

Naruto helps Kiba stand up and checks him for wounds before lifting him into a giant bear hug. "Thanks Kiba. Without you Sasuke would be dead right now."

Kiba freezes when Naruto wraps him up. "Uh... I was just following your orders."

Naruto puts Kiba down slowly. "That's it! If you want an order then here's one! Act like your old damn self right now!"

Kiba freezes for a second and shakes his head in uncertainty. He sighs loudly before he throws his hands up in defeat. "Ok ok I will man! Jus chill out alright! I'll act normal now, but if my mom is around I'm going back to my role in the clan as a helper to the alphas or else she'll mess me up real good." Kiba smiles and takes a relaxed stance. "By the way, I don't think you fully understand what it means to be the alpha male of the Inuzuka clan."

"I don't know what's up with your clan Kiba, but right now I'm too busy for you to tell me. Just make sure you don't put up that act around me anymore. It's freakin creepy." Naruto runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "Are you feeling well enough to help Sasuke get to the hospital?"

Kiba rubs his shoulder and moves his arm around. "Yeah. I'm good." He walks up to Sasuke and puts his shoulder under his arm to take his weight. Once he has Sasuke securely held on his shoulder he turns to Naruto and smiles. "I have a feeling I will be seeing you really soon Naruto."

"See you around dobe." Sasuke says before the two start to walk towards the hospital.

Naruto hears Kiba laughing as he walks away and wonders what the hell is so damn funny, but opts to find the hokage instead. He turns to look for the blonde headed sannin, but doesn't have to look far as she is already inches from his face. "You have some explaining to do." She says in an undeniably threatening manner. Naruto gulps and puts his head down in fear that if he looked directly into her eyes he might burst into flames. "Let's talk in my office." He nods and the both shunshin into the hokage tower.

(Line break)

Naruto and Tsunade arrive in her office in a puff of smoke. Naruto notices it looks completely identical to the office she had before the attack by Pain. The desk is the same. The pictures of the past hokages on the wall are the same. Even the view out of her window overlooking Hokage mountain was the same! Tsunade instantly walks behind her large wooden desk and opens up a false drawer inside another drawer to reveal a large jug of sake. She takes a couple huge gulps and sighs in relief. Naruto watches as Tsunade's 'couple gulps' take down half the bottle of sake as if it were water. The busty slug princess gently puts the half empty bottle on her desk and before jumping at Naruto and giving him a bone crushing hug. "I missed you so much gaki!" She holds him as tight as she can without ripping Naruto in half with her chakra enhanced muscles.

Naruto folds his arms around her and rubs her back gently. "I missed you too baa-chan." Naruto loves the touching moment, but he can't help but blush a little as he feels Tsunade's oversized breasts push into his sternum. He knows that she covers her true appearance with a genjutsu, but damn if it isn't a sexy genjutsu. Between her luscious puffy lips and the way the curves of her body rest against him, his senses are overloaded. On top of that he can tell she wants him. He can smell her desire thick in the air. To him it's as clear as day what she is thinking and he can't help but smirk to himself.

Tsunade's happiness in seeing Naruto is quickly overcome with another more dangerous feeling. She rubs her hands down Naruto's bare back and can't feel a single muscle give way to the pressure of her hands against them. _'His muscles are so lean I can't even move them.'_ She almost moans as her hands rest on the top of the glute muscles that are just barely covered by Naruto's low hanging pants. She pulls her head off his shoulder and notices she is eye level with his chest. _'When did he get so tall?'_ The blonde woman bites her lip as her greedy eyes roam Naruto's well defined torso. She rips herself off of him before she does anything else stupid and goes to her closet. She takes out one of her green robes and throws it at Naruto. "Put this on." She has trouble coming up with an excuse for why. "Um... you look cold." She notices the smirk on his face as he throws on the robe and the only thing she can think is _'Cocky bastard.'_ She crosses her arms under her chest and remembers something she wanted to say before she forgot. "You should know that your old apartment has been rebuilt and your belongings have been moved there."

Naruto nods as he shoves his arms through the sleeves of his shirt and wraps up the green robe, which tightly hugs his body since it's made for a woman. "Well anyways, I'm here to give my report."

Tsunade sighs in relief after he puts the robe on. _'Whew! I couldn't take much more of that.'_ She feels the sake kick in and she wobbles to her desk and sits in her chair. Tsunade clears her throat and looks at the jinchuuriki. "I don't need your report gaki. I've received a report from Kakashi about everything you've been through. Although, I must say I am quite surprised to see how much merging with the Kyuubi has physically changed you." She hungrily looks him up and down again. Her expression changes to one of anger. "So..." A visible tick mark forms on her forehead. "Would you mind explaining to me just what the hell happened at the gates?" The fire in her eyes was ready to light her own office aflame.

Naruto chokes a bit. "Ugh... What do you mean baa-chan? hehe"

Tsunade stands up and slams her hands onto her desk. "You know exactly what I mean!" She blushes thinking back to her experience at the gate. "I know that was you..." She sits down and unconsciously puts a hand over her breast. "I could smell it."

Naruto face-palms himself and sighs. "I'm really sorry! It's a side effect of the merging, but you don't have to worry about that anymore because I've gained control over it." He throws his hands in front of him in defense.

Naruto's eyes go wide in fear as he hears the seductive yet dangerous voice of the Kyuubi breaks into his thoughts. **"Oh you have huh? Please demonstrate your so called control. Oh and you better do it soon cause I'm feeling a little lazy and controlling all these pheromones is really hard. You never know when a little might slip hehe."**

Naruto jumps in fear, but it's too late. He lifts his head slowly to see Tsunade dragging her nails across her wood desk, leaving large gashes down the grain as her hands effortlessly peel the wood back. Her eyes are rolled back in ecstasy as she takes short panting breaths to prevent herself from jumping from over her desk and on to Naruto's lap. One of her hands moves off of her desk to run through her hair, while the other begins to trace down the hem of her robe, right where her cleavage lay. She locks eyes with Naruto and slowly licks her lips. The hand she had resting on her breast grabs onto the hem and slowly starts to open her robe. Naruto panics. _'Please stop Kyuubi-chan! I'm sorry! You're the one with control over the pheromones, not me!'_ He pleads to the demon yet again in hopes she will stop toying with him.

Naruto hears a chuckle in his head. **"That's right and don't you forget it Naru-kun!"**

Tsunade stops opening her robe and wipes a little sweat off of her brow. After taking a few seconds to regain her composure she speaks. "You know… you didn't have to show me you had control. I believed you when you told me."

Naruto sighs in relief. _'Thank Kami she thinks I did that on purpose!'_

"Lucky for you I stopped where I did. If you would've let me go any further I would've killed you and cut out your eyes for allowing it." She pulls her seat forward and repositions herself to show that she means business. "In any case I can't allow you do that anymore. The only time you are allowed to access that…. ummm….. power…. is if you are being attacked by a kunoichi and you wish to… errr… incapacitate her without harm." The words are hard to form for Tsunade as the situation is hard to explain.

"Well since I never planned to use it in the first place I'm fine with that"

"**I'll release the pheromones when I damn well please! No slug woman will tell me what to do!"** The Kyuubi screams in defiance.

Naruto tries to diffuse the situation. _'Calm down Kyuubi-chan. She's right that it would be a bad thing if these pheromones weren't kept in check.'_

"**I don't owe her anything!"**

'_Maybe not, but you do owe me. I don't know what you did to Ino-chan, but I know she was crying because of something you did to her._' Naruto tries to berate his captive into calming down by making her feel guilty. Lucky for him it works.

"**She came into your mind on accident, but was too curious for her own good. She should have left right away."** The Kyuubi speaks quietly in Naruto's mind.

'_What did you do!'_ Naruto is livid that the Kyuubi would use his mindscape to hurt someone.

"**I didn't torture her mind if that's what you're thinking silly boy."** She says teasingly.** "I only enlightened her."**

Naruto sighs in relief when he hears she didn't actually hurt Ino. He wanted to find out how she enlightened Ino, but he noticed a cock-eyed Tsunade staring at him.

"Sorry baa-chan. I was just having a little conversation with my house-guest." He chuckles a little.

Tsunade scoffs. "That's ok. It's just a little weird when you space out for no reason."

Naruto senses five approaching shinobi from outside Tsunade's door. "Alright, so now that I agree to not let my pheromones get out of control I want to introduce you to our newest associates." Just as he finishes talking a knock his heard at the door. With a yell from Tsunade to come in Ibiki, Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu walk through the door followed by a seemingly un-alert Kakashi.

The new arrivals line up in front of Tsunade's desk and stand at attention. The blonde sannin stands up and walks around the three new arrivals for a quick inspection before she stops in front of them and speaks. "I am Tsunade the Godiame Hokage of this village. Please state your names and give me a quick overview of your abilities as well as your objectives concerning this village. You go first." She point to Karin.

Karin takes a step forward and bows gently at the waist. "My name is Karin, Lady Tsunade. My skills are mostly in tracking as I have a hyper sensitive receptors for others chakra. I also am able to transfer my chakra to others by letting them bite me which allows them to heal most wounds instantly. I have almost no combat experience and I harbor no ill will towards this village. My only objective is to stay near Sasuke-kun and….." She blushes as she looks toward Naruto who is leaning against the wall waiting patiently for introductions to finish. "…. and that is all."

Tsunade notices Karin look towards Naruto and sighs. "Very well. Now you." She points to Jugo and Karin steps back into line.

Jugo steps forward and bows. "My name is Jugo. I am an adept in various forms of taijutsu. I am the source of the curse mark Orochimaru used on his ninja and as such the curse may cause me to become enraged at a moments notice. I do no care where I am so long as I am near Sasuke or that man." He points to Naruto. "They both seem quite proficient in keeping my rage in check."

Tsunade puts her hand to her chin in thought. "Is it a problem while you are near them?"

"I can't say that it won't be. It seems long as I am near that man or Sasuke I can feel my curse recede into the depths of my mind. I believe that the more I am around them, the more control I gain over myself when they are not near me. I am not positive, but it is possible that soon I will have complete control."

"Thank you. That is enough for now." She looks at the blue haired man staring at the ceiling in boredom. "Alright, now you." She points to Suigetsu.

He walks forward and puts his hands behind his head lazily. "Hmmmm lets see." He pauses for a moment and puts a hand to finger to his chin. "My name's Suigetsu. I'm good at some things and bad at others. I don't care about this village at all. I'm just here to get my sword fixed cuz that jackass broke it." He points at Naruto.

Naruto sits up a little. "Hey! I told you I'd get it fixed! You just gotta wait til its done!" He walks up and gets in Suigetsu's face.

Suigetsu doesn't back down at all. "I want it back now asshole!"

"Who you callin an asshole you dipshit?"

"Who are you callin dipshit you little blonde bitch?"

WHAM!

Both men are on the floor holding their heads as a fuming Tsunade stands over them with closed fists. "Shut the fuck up!" Everyone in the room looks down to their feet and backs away from the angry Hokage. The two men slowly stand up and Naruto walks back to the wall murmuring to himself about sexually frustrated sannins. "What did you say gaki?"

Naruto turns around quickly and his eyes go wide in fear as he sees Tsunade walk towards him with a chakra powered fist at the ready. "Ahhhh I didn't say anything!"

"Liar!" she says as she cocks her fist back ready to lay into him.

"**Uh-oh it seems like a kunoichi is attacking you and you need to incapacitate her without harming her haha."** The Kyuubi chuckles in his head.

'_No don't! I'll just take the punch!'_ Naruto tries to tell her, but it's too late. Tsunade and Karin have already been flung back with blood pouring out of their noses as the Kyuubi threw out a massive amount of pheromones to flood the women's senses. Naruto sighs.

"Damn kid." Ibiki hits his hand to his forehead. "I didn't sign up for this." He looks to his left to see the silver haired jonin ready to giggle like a school girl. "Kakashi." The one eyed man turns to him. "Chuckling at the hokage won't bode well for you when she gets up. You don't have pheromones to protect you."

The cyclops man immediately stops and stands at attention, his eyes full of fear. _'I didn't survive three years of constant attacks to die here!'_

As the pheromones retract the two women stand up again. Tsunade wipes the blood out from under her nose and stares daggers at Naruto. "When I said you could use that against attacking kunoichi, I didn't mean me." No one in the room is surprised because they have all seen this before and know exactly what just happened.

Naruto looks down so she can't see his smirk. "Sorry. I got scared and let some go."

She turns around because she doesn't want to risk another burst of Naruto's aroma clouding her senses and she didn't want him to see her smile. _'I think three climaxes in one hour are good enough for now.' _She closes her eyes to think for a moment. _'Hmmm….. maybe I should attack him more often. I have been….. stressed lately.'_ She lets loose a lecherous smile that the perv Kakashi rarely gets to see on anyone's face, but his own. Tsunade's smile drops and she turns to look toward the blue haired man still rubbing his head. "Anyways Suigetsu. Even though you really gave me no information that I wanted, I still need to speak with you all about the proposition offered to you." She walks to her desk and sits down in her chair before opening her drawer and taking out three folders filled with papers. "You have all been offered citizenship in Konoha, with stipulations of course that I'm sure have been explained to you." They all nod in agreement. "These contracts are yours to sign if you wish to join this village. If you do not want to be here we will not make you stay."

Everyone looks at Suigetsu who just scoffs and looks away. He mumbles "Well….. maybe I'll stay…. just for a bit or whatever." No one is really surprised. They all knew he was just looking for a fight earlier.

Tsunade looks at Jugo and Karin. "I assume you two wish to stay as well?" They nod and all three walk forward to fill out their lengthy paperwork.

Naruto pushes himself off the wall and looks as if he's about to say something, but instead he stops and looks at the door. "Since everything's good here I'm going to go. Kakashi, could you take them to the hospital to see Sasuke after they're done? Thanks." Without waiting for an actual answer Naruto shunshins out of the room leaving everyone dazed by his sudden urge to disappear.

Seconds after he leaves a knock is heard at the door. "Come in." Tsunade wonders who it is as she wasn't expecting anyone. The door opens to show the pink haired medic standing in the doorway. "Hello Sakura what can I do for you?"

"Sorry for interrupting Tsunade-sama. I was just wondering if you had seen Naruto." This earned an angry glare from Karin.

Tsunade sighs. "Sorry. He just left."

"Oh." Sakura puts her head down. "Did he say where he was going?"

"He didn't."

Sakura shifts around nervously before she picks up here head and gives Tsunade a forced, sad smile. "Well I'll just keep looking then I guess. Thank you for your time Tsunade-sama and sorry again for interrupting." She turns and walks out the door quietly. As she leaves the tower she notices the stars shining in the sky. _'Maybe he's gone home to sleep.' _She starts walking towards his small apartment.

(Line break)

Naruto didn't want to be in the room with Sakura because he no longer trusts himself to do what is right and leave her alone so he's decided to avoid her. _'Just knowing she will be happy is ok with me.'_ After Naruto shunshins out of Tsunade's office he feels his stomach grumble so he heads straight to Ichiraku Ramen to say hi to his oldest friends Ayame and Teuchi. He knew that if he didn't get there soon they would be closing because it's starting to get late so he picks up his pace. He finally sees the banner for his favorite ramen bar strung around the wood building he made after the Pain attack and he smiles. As soon as he arrives he's enveloped in two giant hugs from two of his favorite people. "Naruto! We're so happy to see you!" Teuchi and Ayame both yell so loud they almost burst Naruto's eardrums. "Sit down! We'll make you your favorites!"

Naruto plops down in a chair excitedly. "I'm happy to see you guys too! I haven't had ramen from here in so long!" While Teuchi and Ayame cooked, Naruto told them all the exhilarating stories of his past three years. As Naruto excitedly acts out some of the scenes in his past battles the two cooks are happy to see that even though he has grown up physically he's still the same crazy, energetic guy on the inside. After Naruto finishes his stories the food is finished and Ayame fills him in on all the gossip he's missed. Apparently there are strong rumors of a relationship between Tenten and Neji, but no one has any substantial proof yet. The news that made Naruto laugh out a mouth full of food was about a certain lazy cloud watcher requesting missions almost exclusively for Suna. "Who does Shikamaru think he's kidding? I can't believe he's using missions as an excuse to go over there to see that fan lady!" After eating almost thirty bowls of ramen, Naruto was finally satisfied. "Well I guess it's about time for me to go. I've got a few more things I need to do."

Teuchi says goodbye and Ayame moves in and gives him a hug. "Don't be a stranger. Ok?"

Naruto nods and then turns his head in embarrassment. "Oh and Ayame-chan." She turns her head to look him in the eyes, but he's looking away. "I'm really sorry about what happened at the gate earlier. It won't happen again I swear."

Ayame turns her head and blushes remembering the overpowering scent that emanated off of Naruto and the feeling it gave her. "Well… it's ok. I kind of….. liked it."

Naruto's face goes beet red. "Ummmm…. well I'll see you around Ayame-chan." He turns to leave.

"I hope you're going to take a shower now Naruto." Teuchi says as he comes around the corner. "You smell like mashed up peas mixed with a used diaper."

'_Oh man I was just covered in Zetsu chunks just a little bit ago. I must reek.'_ Naruto smells himself and cringes. "Oh yeah haha. I haven't washed up since yesterday." After another quick goodbye he turns and walks out under the banner over the entryway. _'I'll take a shower later. I want to set some stuff up first.'_ He shoots off towards the Hokage monument.

(Line break)

Sakura arrives in front of Naruto's apartment. As she looks around she notes that even though all of this part of town was recently rebuilt it still looks rundown. She treads up the stairs, past all the random graffiti from gangs and other punks, and walks up to Naruto's door. She knocks, but is sure he's not there because there is no shuffling on the other side and the lights aren't on. After a minute with no answer she takes out a pair of keys and opens the door. Everything was just the way she left it when she was there a few days before. The few possessions Naruto salvaged after the attack were there as well as the small number of items he procured after the attack. She had set up everything shortly after the apartment was fixed and the things were moved in. The apartment came with furniture and a refrigerator, but she added a few things. Like the TV in the living room (so she can watch when she visits), the calendars and clocks (so she knows how long he's been gone), the towels in the bathroom (so she can shower when she's there), and last but not least the bed in his bedroom. She meant for the bed to be there so she could sleep in it until he returned, but instead she sleeps elsewhere. Every night she's there she lies down on the cot he was using before he left and wraps herself up in the blankets he used while laying her head on his pillow. She breathes deeply into the blankets hoping to catch his scent one more time, but after three years of being used by a different person they have lost any trace of Naruto. However, today she would not stay there. She disassembles the cot and puts it in the closet. Then she folds the blanket and pillows, brings them over to closet, and puts them on the top shelf. _'He doesn't have to know I was ever here.'_ Sakura sighs as she looks around the room before she turns around, leaves and locks the door behind her. _'I still can't find him...'_ She frowns as she looks up at the night sky. _'and it's getting too late. I have to go home.'_ She walks through the night back to her parent's house. _'I can wake up early tomorrow before work and look for him some more._' She smiles a bit at the thought. _'Yeah…. tomorrow.'_

(Line break)

Naruto lightly touches his hand to a large boulder and a small seal forms on it. Naruto smiles and wipes his brow. "Whew. Almost done." Naruto puts his finger to his chin in a thinking pose. "Lets see... I already marked hokage tower and Ichiraku's when I was there earlier, and now I have the hokage monument and a few other special areas marked with my seal for my Hiraishin no jutsu." Naruto stretches and rubs his neck. "That leaves my apartment." With that said he bursts off towards his new, old apartment.

Naruto arrives in front of his front door and shakes the handle to find it locked. "Hmmm." Naruto scratches his head for a moment before he gets a brilliant idea. He quickly slams his hand into the door and watches as seals pour through the cracks surrounding it. He waits a moment as he feels the seals reform on the other side and uses his Hiraishin no jutsu to teleport into his home. As he eyes up his apartment he finds it odd that his things have been organized. "I wonder who set this all up." Naruto looks around and finds everything is getting more odd as he does. "What's up with all this new stuff?" He says as he runs his hand along the TV he never had. "Oh well. I'll thank someone later." He takes off the Hokage's robe she gave him earlier. "I need a shower."

Naruto enters his bathroom and takes a long shower. He hasn't had a decent shower in a while and the warm water against his skin feels amazing. He finishes getting the last bit of stench from Zetsu off of him and he turns off the handle to stop the flowing water. The blonde reaches for the nearest towel and throws it over his head. He remains immobile as the towel drapes over his covered face. Naruto slowly removes the towel from his head and looks down at it before crushing it against his nose. The jinchuuriki takes long deep breaths into the towel almost frantically. "Sakura used this!" He runs to his cabinet and rips the door open. The agitated teen throws his face into the towels there and takes another deep breath. "She's used all of these!" He sits down on the sink counter next to the cabinet and holds his head. Naruto leans his head back and rests it against his mirror over his sink. "Why does this keep happening?" The blonde holds his towel to his nose once more to take in the pinkette's intoxicating scent. "I can't get away from her no matter how hard I try." He puts his head down again. "Why was she even here?" Naruto gets off the counter and towels off still thinking about Sakura before he comes to a conclusion. "That's it! She must have set up my house!" He thinks about the towels. "She must have also known I didn't have any towels and gave me hers. That's why they are full of her scent." The blue eyed man walks out of the bathroom and into his bedroom to put on some sleep wear, still keeping the towel near his face at all times. His body shakes as he takes another breath into it and he throws it off to the side. "I have to put this towel away now. I'll never get to sleep with this thing around." Naruto walks over to his clothes he was wearing earlier and wraps them around the towel. "There. Now I can't smell it at all."

Naruto walks over to his bed and pulls the covers back on the twin sized bed he never bought and lays down. As he lies down for the night he can't stop tossing and turning because Sakura's scent won't leave him alone. The tired blonde gets up and stomps towards his hamper where he just threw the towel and his clothes and opens the lid. As his blue eyes peer down he notices the scent isn't coming from the towel he left wrapped in his dirty clothes. His nose hits the air like a bloodhound and he scampers straight to his closet. The jinchuuriki puts both hands on the door and sniffs at the small crevices that surround it before he swings it open. He nearly hits the floor as an overpowering wave of his beloved's scent hits him like a brick wall. The swooning man closes his eyes it almost feels like the one he wants is right there in front of him. He peers into the closet to see his old cot and blankets from before he left. He reaches for the blankets and holds them close up against his face and chest. The pinkette's aroma covers the material and he can't help but wonder why. He reaches forward and grabs the cot to find that it's full of her scent as well. _'Why does this stuff smell so much like her?'_ He takes out the cot and sets it up. He desperately searched for a reason as to why she would be near any of his old things. _'Maybe she kept this stuff at her house for me before she brought it here.'_ He wraps himself tightly in his old blankets and pictures Sakura holding him in their place as he lies down on his cot and places his weary head upon his old pillow. '_Yeah. That must be it._' He says to himself as he drifts off to the most comfortable night of sleep he has had in three years.

(Line break)

Naruto wakes early in the morning due to the light from the sun peeking through his shades and into his eyes. He attempts to get back to sleep, but fails miserably and decides not to waste any more of his day just lying around. He gets off of his cot, still wrapped in his blankets, and goes to his room to change into his training gear. His gear consists of a form fitting black muscle tee shirt, with orange stripes down the short sleeves that connect to an orange collar, which is tucked into black pants that are tucked into black boots. He whips an orange belt tilted to the side around his waist and throws a few kunai into the loops on the left side of the belt. Then he takes his Konoha headband wraps it around his waist so it hangs down on the right side, opposite the kunai, before he Hiraishins over to one of the training grounds he permanently marked with his seal. If he would have stayed in his apartment ten minutes longer he would have encountered the pink haired woman he dreamt about all night.

Naruto arrives at the training grounds and undergoes his usual routine for warming up. He stretches and runs a few laps around the area before settling down for some real training. He sits down cross-legged in the middle of the area and holds his right hand out in front of him while holding his wrist with his left. As he stares at his hand, five spiraling spheres of chakra appear at the tips of each of his fingers. "Okay now for the hard part." He stares at his thumb and a blade of wind starts to spin around the sphere quickly. Then he looks to his index finger and a small ring of water moves around the small sphere. He groans and looks to his middle finger intently. Sparks start and a flicker of fire starts inside the sphere. "Yeah I did it!" In Naruto's excitement he accidentally touches his fingers together and what looks like the bursts of flame out of the end of a rocket shoots out of his hand and levels most of the training ground. Naruto himself is propelled through a few trees as the force of the blast from his hand acted like a rocket engine exerted an opposing force on him. "Whew. Good thing that I put the water element between wind and fire or that REALLY could've hurt." Naruto stands up and brushes off the dirt, leaves, and sticks he accumulated from flying through the forest.

"What the hell was that?"

Naruto turns around to see Suigetsu, Karin, Jugo standing in awe of what he has just done. "Oh that's nothing. Just a new jutsu I'm working on." He looks over the massive amount of damage he caused. "Hehe. It's definitely not ready yet."

Suigetsu steps forward with his brand new sword hanging off of his back, although it is covered with seals to keep the edges blunt. "That was unfinished?" He looks across the broken forest. "There isn't anything fucking left!"

"That was completely uncontrolled." Naruto says casually before he turns around and faces the group with glittering eyes and clasped hands. "When I'm done with this jutsu it will be sooooooo awesome!"

The three hit the ground in a cartoon style fashion. Suigetsu stares at him in disbelief. _'I can't believe this guy!'_

Karin is the first to stand up. "Ummm... Naruto-kun." Karin looks at Naruto's muscled body as it clings tightly to his shirt and almost needs to sit back down again.

Naruto looks at her and raises a brow. "Huh? What is it Karin-chan?"

Karin almost faints when she hears Naruto call her Karin-chan. _'I think he likes me! Were not good friends yet so he must if he calls me Karin-chan!'_

Jugo stands up and steps forward. "We're here about the clause in our contracts that concerns you."

Naruto face goes serious. "I see." Naruto crosses his arms across his chest. "We can do it tonight. I should let you know that the application of the seal may be quite painful."

Suigetsu scoffs. "It doesn't matter anyway. We have to do it if we want to stay."

Naruto shrugs his shoulders. "I'm just telling you so you will know later."

Karin speaks up. "Would you mind giving us a few details about our situation?"

"Certainly. Because we are not sure if we can trust you I need to apply a semi-permanent seal on each of you, which allows me to instantly transport myself to your location. It will remain fully active until the end of your probation at which time you are allowed the choice of having it removed."

Suigetsu laughs. "Why the hell would we wanna keep a seal on us that lets you intrude on our privacy whenever you want?"

Naruto smiles. "That's easy! Once your probation is over I can change the seal so that I can't just intrude on you whenever I want." Naruto puts his finger in the air to make it appear that he's really smart. "I would remove my chakra from the seal and then it can only be activated by you when you want to see me." He looks to Jugo. "For example, if you found you needed help with control. All you need to do is apply the smallest amount of your chakra to the seal and I will feel it activate. I will be there right away, but if you don't apply chakra to it then the seal is inactive and I can't use it." He looks at Suigetsu. "However, once your probation is up you have the choice of getting rid of it entirely. It's up to you."

"I don't want your damn seal." Suigetsu crosses his arms and pouts.

Karin turns to her blue haired companion. "Stop bitching Suigetsu! You don't have to keep the thing once your probation's over!"

Suigetsu grunts and puts his hand on his sword. "Fuck you!"

Naruto takes a step forward and gives Suigetsu a large frightening grin. "Please don't attack anybody Suigetsu. I'm asking you nicely."

Suigetsu gulps remembering the last time Naruto 'nicely' asked him not to attack. He puts his hand over his sternum and cringes. "Fine whatever. What time do you wanna do this seal thing?"

"Eight o'clock in Sasuke's hospital room. He needs a seal too."

The three nod, but only two walk away once the information was passed.

"Can I help you Karin-chan?"

She blushes again at the suffix. "Ummmmm... I was wondering if... maybe you could show me around Konoha sometime?" She says quietly and quickly with her eyes squinted shut.

Naruto walks forward until he's almost face to face with Karin. She can feel he's trying as hard as he can to suppress every once of chakra from leaking through so she doesn't sense it and act crazy like she did with his clone the day before. "Sure Karin-chan." He pulls her in for a hug. "Welcome to Konoha." Her legs wobble and her body goes numb as he holds her. She wraps her arms around him and sinks her body deeper into his hold trying to relish every second he allows her to touch him. To her dismay, he abruptly lets go and leaves her cold without him there to warm her. "Maybe we can do it tomorrow. Right now you need to rest to prepare for the seal. I wasn't kidding when I said it will hurt."

The red-head nods and starts to back away. "Goodbye Naruto-kun."

Naruto gives her a smile that melts her to the bone. "I'll see you soon Karin-chan." She squeals and runs away in clumsy excitement, completely ignoring the fact that he just told her he was going to put her through excruciating pain. He shakes his head and sits down to try and finish adding the lightening and earth elements to the last two mini rasengans floating above his fingertips.

(Line break)

Sakura wakes up early in hopes of catching Naruto at his apartment. Unfortunately she arrives too late. She unlocks the door and walks in again without even thinking about the fact that she shouldn't walk in without being let in anymore because the owner lives there now. She sees the cot set up with his old blankets hanging off of it and frowns. _'Does he not like the bed I got for him?'_ She walks into his bedroom and sees the bed sheets are ruffled. _'I don't understand. Why is the cot set up in the living room if he slept in his bed?'_ She thinks about the situation for a moment and frowns. _'Unless someone slept here with him.'_ She rubs her chin. _'I don't think so. Who would it have been anyways? The newcomers and Sasuke-kun all slept in the hospital last night so it can't be them and no one else would be here.'_ The pinkette turns and walks out the bedroom door and into the living room. _'It doesn't matter right now I guess. I need to find him'_ With that she turns and walks out the door, locking it behind her.

As she strolls through the streets she tries to think about places he might have gone. _'That's it! He said earlier he was going to visit Ino!'_ A sad look washes over her face as she thinks about how softly he hugged Ino the day before. She wished he would hug her like that... and she was determined to make that happen. _'I'm going to find him and explain myself even if I have to force him to listen!'_ With renewed vigor she leaps toward the flower shop girl's home.

(Line break)

Sakura arrives at Ino's house and rings the doorbell to have Ino's father answer the door. "Hello Yamanaka-san. Is Ino home?

The older blonde wraps Sakura up in a hug and sighs into her shoulder. "Thank Kami you're here Sakura."

Sakura is too surprised to hug him back. "Wha? What's going on?"

Ino's father lets go of Sakura and sighs loudly. "It's Ino. She came home yesterday and went up to her room. Now all she does is stare out her window without saying a word to anyone. I've never seen her like this and it's making me sad to see my hime so detached." He says with an melodramatic sad dad face.

"Really? Do you have any idea what's wrong?" She says worriedly.

Inoichi runs his hands through his hair. "I do." He leans forward so no prying ears can hear what he has to say. "It happens occasionally when a mind-walker enters a mind that is particularly ummmmmm." he puts his finger to his chin to try to think of the right word. "Well it can happen when we enter a... scary mind."

She clenches her jaw in anger. _'There is nothing scary about Naruto!'_

"Well a scary or damaged mind I guess, but usually scary." He crosses his arms and looks down at Sakura. "Do you have any idea who's mind she entered."

She looks down so he can't see her tears form. _'Damaged? He's not damaged. Is he?'_

Inoichi sighs and moves to the side. "Ignore that question. Right now Ino needs you to help her through this."

Sakura nods and walks past the elder Yamanaka to see the younger. She slowly walks up the stairs and opens the door to Ino's room to see her just as her dad said she would be. Ino sits motionless with her legs to her chest on the bed and staring out the window, the only movement being an occasional blink from her lifeless blue eyes. Sakura walks to her friend and sits beside her on the bed. "Ino?" She doesn't even turn her head to acknowledge her pink haired friend. Sakura knows Ino saw something in Naruto's mind and whatever it was must have been truly frightening. "Ino." Sakura says forcefully. "I know you were in Naruto's mind." Ino visibly flinches, but doesn't turn away from the window. Sakura puts her hand on Ino's shoulder and grips it tightly. "Show me." Ino slowly turns her head and stares directly into Sakura's eyes. Sakura doesn't see fear in Ino's eyes, only sadness. "I don't know what you saw, but if it concerns Naruto I want to know."

Ino turns back her head back and looks out the window. "No you don't." Ino speaks to her friend for the the first time.

Sakura grips Ino's shoulder tighter. "Yes Ino. I do." She says in a rather angry voice.

Ino turns her head back again, but this time she's angry. "You want to see Naruto's memories! Fine! I'll give you just a glimpse of what I saw!" She does a few hand signs and pulls her hand back before palming Sakura in the forehead. Sakura feels the hit connect and her world goes black.

(Line break)

Sakura wakes up in and notices she is no longer in Ino's room. Instead she is at Konoha's gate and it 's nightfall. She puts her hand to her forehead and tries to clear her groggy mind. "Stand up Sakura." She looks up to see Ino standing above her.

"Where are we Ino?" She asks as she looks around and sees everyone who was at the gate the day before seemingly frozen in place. She even sees herself laying on the other side of the group of people.

"We are in my mind." She says calmly. "This is my memory from yesterday."

Sakura looks around again. "Why is everybody frozen then?" Sakura asks confused.

Ino points towards Naruto. "Just watch."

Sakura watches as another Ino steps forward and caresses Naruto's frozen shirtless body. "What the hell Ino-pig? I don't want to watch you fondle Naruto!" She yells at her blonde friend.

"Just shut up and watch Sakura."

Sakura turns her head when she hears the memory Ino say something, but doesn't quite catch it. What she does hear is a seductive voice say. **"He's worried about you I'm sure."** A beautiful woman with wild dark red and black hair appears seemingly out of nowhere and begins to elegantly walk towards the memory Ino. She is wearing a brilliant white kimono that slowly transitions to a dark red at the bottom. The colors of the kimono allow for a perfect contrast to her elegant demeanor and dark tanned skin, while allowing her to show her generous curves and bust. **"You should have left when you had the chance mind-walker."**

"Who are you?" The memory asks.

The beautiful woman walks up to the memory Ino and grabs her throat. **"There is only one person who will ever know my true name and that is Naruto! Also, it is common courtesy to introduce yourself first you whelp!"** She says before she throws her to the side effortlessly.

Sakura worriedly looks at the real Ino, but the blonde just keeps staring at the memory. The memory Ino holds her throat while gasping for air. When she finally gains her breath back she stands up and speaks. "My name is Yamanaka Ino." She says fearfully. "May I ask to whom I am speaking."

"**I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune."** The memory gasps and tries to cancel the jutsu, but can't. **"I told you that you should have left while you had the chance.** **Now you will have to wait until I release you from this place."** The Kyuubi says.

The memory looks down. "What is it you want from me?"

"**I don't want anything from you."** The Kyuubi says, which gives the memory Ino some hope. **"In fact, I'm going to give you a gift."** The blonde looks at the Kyuubi confusedly. **"I will allow you to see a few things that no one has seen before, save myself and Naruto."**

The memory cautiously maintains her distance from the Kyuubi. "Why would you give me such a gift?"

The Kyuubi sighs. **"I will explain at another time if I find that you are worthy of an explanation."**

"Very well I'm ready."

Sakura watches the memory say she's ready, but as she looks over to the real Ino she looks anything but ready. Tears are forming in the blonde's eyes and she is shaking uncontrollably. The real Ino looks at Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura, but I don't want to relive this again. I will allow you to travel with my memory, but I won't see you until it's over." As she speaks her last word she disappears.

Sakura saw that Ino was scared of something and that it was coming soon, but she didn't know what. Before Sakura could turn towards the Kyuubi and the memory Ino the world she's in shifts into a small, dark bedroom. She looks around to see Ino staring a small boy crouched in front of a fading candle, holding a cute teddy bear. The pinkette knows exactly where she is and who the young boy playing with the stuffed bear is as well. _'Naruto.'_

**Well that's chapter 5! I hope you enjoyed. I apologize if the distinction between memory Ino and real Ino is difficult. I decided the only way to remedy it is to get rid of the real Ino until the memory is over. Thank you very much to all those who have read and/or reviewed. It means a lot to me to know somebody likes this.**

**Ill see you in chappy 6!**


	6. Oh Ino!

**I don't own Naruto.**

**Anyways, some people have been asking about me making a harem in this fic. For my decision I'm going to be honest with you and say…. I don't know yet haha. I definitely did not plan on making one in the beginning, but after reading a few reviews I'm not so sure anymore. For one, I do not like being told what is right and wrong to do when it comes to a judgment call and a certain reviewer has made me want to rebel and make this a harem (I blame my rebellious attitude on listening to too much Bad Religion hehe). Whether I do make this a harem or not I can promise some steamy moments in the future. Naruto will probably be hit on really hard in the least. I'll see how I feel when I write the parts because I'm still winging the story.**

**Also, I'm thinking of switching the genre possibly to include humor. Although after this chapter I might have to add gore and angst to it haha. Seriously though, part of this chapter is quite gory. I'm sorry if it offends.**

**I got chapter six here for ya!**

**(In Ino's memory)**

Sakura looked around the room and noticed the slight differences between this one and the duplicate she has been staying in sporadically for the past three years. A broken window and broken walls were the most notable of differences, but overall the only real difference was the quality. The old room appeared to have been ransacked or destroyed multiple different times, while the new apartment was basically pristine on the inside. Thanks mostly to Sakura's effort to keep it nice for when Naruto returned.

The pinkette stood next to the blonde mind-walker as they looked down at a young boy playing with a stuffed bear. He was lying back on his bed throwing the stuffed animal up and down with a smile on his face. "Hey Teddy-chan! Do you know what today is?" The boy paused and caught the bear so it would look as if it was replying. "That's right it's my birthday!" The young Naruto stood up and swung around in circles while hold the bear by its arms. "I'm five today!" As the boy was having fun swinging his bear a brick with a note attached to it flew through the window and hit the floor with a loud thud. Naruto stopped twirling his bear and stuffed it under his arm. "Would you look at that Teddy-chan!" He said as he pointed at the brick on the floor. "The villagers got me another present and it came with a letter!" He picked up the brick and brought it to a corner where Sakura could see at least seven other bricks. The note was thrown in the garbage since he already kind of knew what it said. They always said the same thing.

Sakura looked to her side and saw Ino whimpering as her hand covered her mouth. She noticed that the brick that flew through the window didn't break any glass. _'The window was probably broken long before by one of the other bricks in the corner of the room.'_ Sakura whimpered a little just as Ino did. _'Oh Naruto.'_

The pinkette heard a crowd outside shouting something, but her attention turned to Naruto again as she heard him speak. "So Teddy-chan. I know it's rude to ask, but did you get me anything?" The boy said as he held the bear in front of him. Using the stuffed paw of the bear he pushed a small cupcake forward with a candle sticking out of it. "Oh thanks Teddy-chan! You're the best!" The small boy screamed in excitement as he presented himself a cupcake. He tugged the bear into a hug and smiled into its stained fur.

Sakura looked down at the cupcake and cringed at the sight of it. It was obviously really old and by the looks of it slightly molding. The candle sticking out of it was no better. It was far too wide for the small cupcake and it was almost completely melted with only about an inch of the length left. She was almost certain he found that candle in the garbage. She thinks he may have found the cupcake in the trash as well. _'This is his birthday? I knew he was an orphan, but I thought he'd been in an orphanage most of his life. Why is he living here alone at five?'_ Sakura had more questions, but she didn't waste her time thinking about them because there was no one to answer her.

The blonde boy sat on his bed in front of his birthday meal with his stuffed best friend in his lap. With his eyes closed and his hands clasped together he shouts. "I wish to be the Hokage and have the entire village respect me!" Taking the biggest breath he could Sakura watched Naruto blow out the candle with all of his might. Even after the candle was out Naruto kept blowing on it for good measure until his breath finally ran out leaving him heaving and panting for air. When he finally caught his breath he pulled his bear to face him. "Gotta make sure the candle's out or my wish might not come true." He said while smiling to his bear. Sakura and Ino finally let loose a smile for the first time in the memory. "Now it's time to eat!"

The hungry boy got ready to dig into his corroding meal, but another brick flew through the window. "The villagers are really being generous today Teddy-chan." Naruto stuffs his bear under his arm again and walks over to the brick. "Oooooo this one has a note on it too!" He picked up the brick and stared at the note wrapped around it as it started sizzling. "Well that's strange don't you think buddy?" He said as he looked down at the bear he had stuffed under his arm.

Sakura and Ino froze. They both tried to dash forward and knock the brick out of his hand while yelling some combination of 'no' and 'throw it away', but they both flew right through him having forgotten this was just a memory. It was too late anyways. As the blonde and pink haired girls hit the floor in front of the young boy they realized they only succeeded in gaining a front row seat to the horror.

Their faces were only a foot away as the paper bomb attached to the brick explodes in Naruto's hand. A blinding light made the girls shield their eyes, but they both saw what happened to Naruto. His body flew six feet back into the wall behind him and knocked off a large chunk of drywall before he hit the ground. The two girls slowly uncovered their eyes as they adjusted back to the small light left in the room made by the torches lit by the mob outside. A cheer was heard outside the window, but the girls didn't care about those monsters. They were both frightened to look at Naruto. A loud cry from Ino alerted Sakura and she knew her friend already looked, but the pinkette was still too afraid to open her eyes and look for herself.

As Sakura's hands slowly fell from her face and she peered over at Naruto she couldn't help, but to cry out in horror. In front of her was no longer the fragile, beautiful, young boy she saw moments earlier, but what lay in his place looked far worse than any patient she has ever seen come into her hospital dead or alive. All of his blonde hair was burned off leaving only black skin and blood pouring out of his head. Most of his clothes were burned off leaving him naked while his bare chest was now either blackened or missing chunks of flesh. However, none of this compared to his arm. The right hand that picked up the brick was all but gone. His arm was split down the middle from between his middle and ring finger down to his elbow and Sakura could see that the ulna and radius that made up the bones in his forearm had completely separated. The two sides of his forearm spasmed and flapped around as blood poured out from his entire body. He didn't even look human anymore.

Sakura couldn't watch any longer. She has worked as a medic for a long time and seen many things, but never has she witnessed something like this, never to a child. She turned away and covered her face with her hands. Keeping her fingers over her eyes for the rest of the memory seemed like a good idea if she hadn't heard Ino scream. **"Do not look away!"** The newly arrived Kyuubi yelled at the screaming Ino whose hands had covered her face.

"I can't! Please!" Ino yelled back.

Sakura watched as the Kyuubi walked forward and threw Ino's hands behind her back with one hand and held Ino's hair by the pony tail with the other. **"Watch!"** Sakura wanted to help her friend, but she knew she was watching Ino's memory and there was nothing she could do since it already happened.

Ino kept her eyes clamped shut.

"**If you do not open your eyes now I will sew your eyelids back into your face and force you to witness this!"** The Kyuubi said with a growl as her nine tails sprouted from her lower back and constricted Ino's torso.

Ino's eyes slowly opened as tears drained down her cheeks. The display of fear and courage strengthened the weary Sakura's resolve. _'I'm going to watch this. For Naruto.'_ She turned her head and looked back to the broken boy lying on the ground.

The sound of his frantic crying and gurgling finally reached her ears and the sight was again too much for Sakura to bear. She turned away once more ashamed of her own cowardice. Looking away seemed like the only option when she saw Naruto reaching, with his destroyed arm, for a smoldering pile of ash. The only thing Sakura could make out of the pile was a furry stuffed arm that looked familiar. She couldn't make out what he said between the spurts of blood and teeth pouring out of his mouth, but the look of sadness in his eyes was more than she could handle.

The floor shook only slightly as Sakura's drained body hit the floor and she wrapped her arms around her legs. She was oblivious to everything around her. She didn't even notice the Sandaime when he disposed of the crowd outside or when he scooped up Naruto to bring him to the hospital.

"Sakura." The pinkette looked up and noticed she was no longer in Naruto's room and her blonde friend had her hand on her shoulder. A sigh of relief left Sakura's lips as she noticed she was back in Ino's room and out of that nightmare. Ino looked over at her friend with a sad smile. "Did you see what you wanted?"

Sakura put her head back in her lap and sobbed. "I... never knew."

The blonde sighed and threw an arm around her friend. "No one knew. He is very good at hiding his past."

"I knew that he had a bad childhood, but I never expected that."

Ino took her arm off of Sakura's shoulder leaving a cold spot that made the medic shiver. "That wasn't a bad day."

Sakura's head flew up exposing her wide eyes. "What? That was terrible! I've never seen anything so atrocious in my life!" She couldn't believe there was anything worse than what she just saw.

The sound of Ino's crying let her know she wasn't lying. "It gets so much worse." Her crying intensified. "I saw everything." Now was Sakura's turn to comfort her friend. The pink haired medic wrapped her friend in a hug and rubbed her hands down her back while she whispered words of comfort to her and they both cried for the sake of their dear friend. When Ino's crying finally slowed she found the will to speak. "Thanks Sakura. I'm glad you visited me."

"It's ok. I wanted to. Thank you for showing me that memory Ino. It really helps me begin to understand Naruto a little more." She unwrapped her friend from her hug and stood up while they both wiped tears from their eyes. "I'm sorry. I really want to stay here, but I have work soon. Is it ok if I come back later?"

Ino nods. Sakura turned to walk to the door, but was stopped when her friend called out to her. "You know..." She paused and furrowed her brow to think of the right words to use. "... the stuff that happened to him was terrible..." She put her head a little farther down. "... but what you did must have hurt him far more than any of the other things." Ino looked up at her pink haired friend with a frown across her features. "Normally I can't feel the emotions of the person when I look through their memories, but when you did what you did I could feel every second of it." Sakura turned away in shame. A sad look begging for forgiveness covered Ino's face. "I'm really sorry about hurting you when we were at the gate it's just I can't deal with my emotions as well as Naruto and I kind of got carried away."

Sakura sighed. "It's ok Ino. I deserve much worse." She turned to leave only to be stopped again.

"Sakura there's one more thing I need to tell you." A pink tint, almost like she was embarrassed, grew on Ino's face.

"Yeah?"

The blonde stood and walked to her friend. "Well... in Naruto's memory with you I could feel EVERY second of it." She emphasized the word 'every' for some reason, but Sakura still couldn't understand why she was repeating what she just said.

"I understand that. It's why you were angry with me." Sakura said not comprehending the hints Ino was giving her.

The blonde leaned closer and gently put her hand on Sakura's cheek. "Every second."

Realization dawned on the medic. Sakura leaned her head back against the frame of the door and a blush slowly crept onto her cheeks. "So hypothetically….. you kissed me too?" She said in a questioning tone.

The blue eyed blonde slowly moved forward and pressed her chest against Sakura. With her hand still gently resting on the pinkette's cheek, she planted a soft kiss on her neck. She felt Sakura jolt at the new sensation, but not move away. Ino's free hand moved around Sakura's back and gripped her firmly so she couldn't escape her embrace even if she wanted to. "His emotions from that day are still stuck in my head." She said as she nibbled slightly on Sakura's ear before lamentably moving away. The husky tone and gentle breathing Sakura felt moving across her ear made her uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. "I can't get you out of my mind Sakura."

"Ugh…. Ino. I'm not….." Sakura stuttered. Before Sakura can say anything else, Ino closed her eyes and placed a chaste, lingering kiss on Sakura's lips. The sensation of another girls lips on her own sparked a felling the pinkette has never had before. In her life she believed she had only kissed two people, Sasuke and Naruto. Her first two kisses were both gentle and loving. This kiss was very different. Although lips softer than her own were pushed against her the kiss was strong and almost possessive. It was unexplainable to Sakura. Was it good? Was it bad or right or wrong for that matter? She didn't know if it was, but she did know that it wasn't entirely unwelcome.

Ino broke the kiss to her own dismay and leaned back. "Please don't say anything Forehead. I said before that Naruto has far better control over himself than I do. I'm acting on feelings that I'm not sure are my own." Ino sighed and walked back to her bed. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not a lesbian, but I also don't regret what I just did at all."

"Ino I…."

"We can talk about this later." She gave her a soft smile. "Right now you have to go to work." The extremely confused and slightly scared Sakura merely nodded and rushed out the door leaving a flustered Ino behind. The blonde's hand reached up to touch her lips and a large smile broke out on her face. _'I'm still not sure what's going on with my feelings, but I think I should avoid getting too close to her for now.'_ She licked her lips to savor the taste of her friend. _'At least out of arms reach.'_ She tried to bargain with her subconscious so she could get closer to Sakura.

(Line break)

Sakura walked erratically down the road after she left Ino's house. _'What the hell was that?'_ Comprehension of the events that just occurred in Ino's room seemed like a daunting task at the moment. _'One second we were crying and the next Ino was forcing herself on me!'_ The pinkette rolled a hand through her hair to calm herself down. '_Ok. I need to stop this.'_ She stopped walking and leaned against a wall to take a deep breath. _'I need to clear my mind of my own problems. People's lives depend on me and I need to be level headed. I'll have plenty of time to figure out what the fuck just happened when I'm done with work.'_

Clearing her head of her friend's odd behavior wasn't too difficult for Sakura, but that wasn't what she was really worried about anyways. Every time she closed her eyes she could see Naruto's anguished face and she would flinch. Flinching during an operation is a serious problem so she had to remedy her problem immediately. Images of the burned and broken boy flooded her mind if she so much as blinked. She decided there was no way to get the images out of her head so she will just have to stop allowing it to outwardly affect her. Instead of trying to block the horrible images she worked to consolidate them. She closed her eyes knowing it wouldn't give her psyche any peace, but this way she will still be able to function and perform her duties. After a few moments of meditation she trudged off to work. Her body may seem alive, but her eyes showed that on the inside she was dying of heartache and misery caused by her own uselessness as Naruto's friend.

(Line break)

Naruto was still sitting at the training grounds trying to perfect his five elemental rasengans. He found that the combinations of two rasengans yielded amazing results. He conjured up a rasengan on his pointer finger and thumb. The pointer finger rasengan was imbued with the water element while the thumb had fire. Slowly he lessened the distance between the two rasengans and watched the outcome. A bright liquid poured out from the space between them, but when it hit the ground it started on fire like napalm. Putting the fire out was nearly impossible and when he tried to douse it with water it only spread. He also noticed that the closer he brought the rasengans the farther the liquid shot. He didn't test it because he was still unable to put out the small fire he created, but it seemed likely he could make it into a mid to long range jutsu if he wanted.

Naruto was going to test the fire and wind element next, but he remembered being blasted through the forest earlier and opted to try water and earth rasengans instead. The result was mud. Naruto's face went pale when he saw the weak result of his hard work so he pounded his hand into the ground out of frustration. When his hand hit the ground he watched the mud he made slam deep into the earth. '_What the hell?_' He stood over the hole the mud created and looked into it to see the mud at the bottom of the pit. He slammed his hand down again and watched it go deeper. Trying another approach Naruto threw his hand up in the air and watched in amazement as the mud rose out of the pit and jumped thirty feet in the air. Naruto gave a wide grin. He flipped his hand around a few times and found out that he would need a lot more practice to control the mud, but the uses of this jutsu were making Naruto so excited he almost wet himself. _'If I can get control of this I can use it just like Gaara uses his sand!'_ Naruto put his finger to his chin and thinks. _'I just need more control and then I can harden it into a gourd just like him.'_ He created an army of shadow clones tasked with learning how to control the mud and he got back to his personal training. _'If I can't learn it I could always ask Gaara for help I guess.'_

Naruto thought about how it is he controlled the mud and had a revelation. He pointed his hand at the liquid fire he created and closed his fingers. As soon as he did the fire went out. "Cool." He whispered to himself. _'I figured that might work. I think my chakra is imbued in everything I make so I can control them._'

"**Naruto-kun."** The Kyuubi speaks up in a concerned voice.

_'Hey Kyuubi-chan! What's up?'_

"**I've been watching your training and I must say I'm very concerned."**

Naruto is confused. _'Huh? Why?_'

"**You just made a set of jutsu that are far higher than any S ranked jutsu ever created and you did it in an hour."**

_'You think those were cool just wait until I combine all five elements.'_ He gleefully said.

"**Naruto-kun don't. I can't imagine what would happen if you let those five elements touch each other like you plan."**

Naruto put his head down. _'I'm sorry.'_

"**No! You have accomplished something I have never seen another human do in my long life and I am highly impressed Naru-kun. Don't misunderstand me. You are the most amazing person I have ever met and if that wasn't enough you are the only person who has ever had the ability to frighten me."** She said trying to calm Naruto down. Obviously she didn't understand how to make a correct compliment.

Tears formed in Naruto's eyes. _'I... frighten you?'_

"**Oh Naruto-kun."** She says softly. **"I could never be frightened of you."** She pulled him into his mind-scape and Naruto now stood in front of the Kyuubi with a sad look on his face. The Kyuubi walked forward and pulled him into a hug. **"I'm not frightened of you. I said you had the ability to frighten me. There's a difference."**

Naruto let loose a smile while he returned the hug. "Ha. That's a really lame excuse Kyuubi-chan."

"**It's not an excuse. I wanted you to know that if you desired you could make the fearless back down and the most proud of people doubt themselves. It's just one of the many things I love about you. It's why you are the only one who knows my real name."** She cuddled further into his chest.

"Your name... I won't call you by your name and you know that."

"**And yet again you give me another reason to love you. The name Kyomu was given to me long ago. No longer does it hold any merit. So long as I am with you the nothingness that name represents means nothing to me. I only told you my real name because in my time only one other person is allowed to know your true name and that is the person you will love forever."**

"I love you too Kyuubi-chan." Naruto gave her the smile he reserved only for her.

The Kyuubi pulled her head back, but kept her arms wrapped around him. **"So Naruto-kun. I think I may have found you an excellent mate!"**

"Ahh Kyuubi-chan I thought I told you not to do that!" He said sounding like a whiney baby.

"**No this one is a winner! It's that mind-walker that intruded into our personal space not too long ago."** She said smiling.

"Ino? Please don't do this. I'm really not looking for someone right now." He put his head down in quiet shame.

The Kyuubi frowned. **"Did you know she cares deeply for you?"**

"Really? How do you know?" Naruto scoffed

"**I had a... talk with her."**

**(Flashback to when Ino was in Naruto's mind)**

The Kyuubi stood over Ino as the last memory she intended to show her finished. The sobbing mind-walker lay weak and defeated in front of her. Being the ever patient and merciful demon she was, the Kyuubi let Ino finish her crying before she spoke up. **"What do you think of Naruto-kun now?"**

Ino picked herself up off the ground and wiped away a few stray tears. "Naruto-kun is the most amazing person I have ever met. I can't believe that such an all around beautiful person could have been raised in such a way."

"**Yes I know he is amazing. So what are you going to do now?"**

"I don't know. I realize I may have looked down at Naruto-kun when we were young, but that was before I got to know him. After the Pain attack I started to talk to him. He was the most sincere and nice person I have ever met. Did you know that he rebuilt my house before it was commissioned to be rebuilt? I was just carrying some water to the workers one day and I saw it standing alone in the exact same spot where it used to be." She smiled at the memory. "The inside of the house was spaced a little differently, but the outside was flawlessly built the same way we had it before the attack right down to the color of our deck."

The Kyuubi chuckled. **"It was a little different on the inside because he was never in there before so he had to guess. The outside is a different story. He had spent countless hours staring at your house when he was young."**

A look of confusion spread across Ino's face. "What do you mean countless hours? Why would he come to my house and not come in?"

The Kyuubi gave a small smile at her reaction. **"I didn't show you those memories, but you saw how everyone treated him. You think your looking down on him made him unhappy, but it actually had the opposite effect. You were the first person to not ignore him. He loved when you yelled at him or bonked him on the head because you didn't do it out of hate, only annoyance. You were one of his precious people before you ever realized. He would have died for you in an instant if he thought you were ever in trouble so he would spend hours outside your house just waiting to catch a glimpse of you."**

"Really? He would die for me?" Her hand moved across her chest.

"**Yes. He cares for you more than you can imagine. He also cares for the pink woman and it is beginning to become a problem."**

"You mean Sakura?

"**Yes, but never mind that for now. The reason I made you watch these memories is because I was testing you. I wanted to know of your feelings concerning his life. I will tell you now that you passed and I have deemed you worthy.**

Anger engulfed Ino. "This was all a test! And what the hell do you mean 'deemed me worthy!'"

The Kyuubi sighed and ran a hand through her wild red and black hair. **"I'm going to ask you a question and you had better answer me honestly because I will know if you're lying and that won't end well for you. If Naruto chose you would you be his mate?"**

The look of anger was still across Ino's face. "What do you mean his mate! I'm not some breeding machine." She said ruefully.

The beautiful demon furrowed her brow in frustration. **"Dammit that's not what I mean. Uh... what do you call them now... oh yeah! Would you be his girlfriend?"**

Ino stopped glaring and let out a smile. "Well... if Naruto-kun liked me too then... yeah maybe."

"**Good. He has been haunted by his love for the pink woman and I want you to help him. However, if you hurt him like she did, know that I will do everything in my power to reach you and make you pay."** The Kyuubi said giving the coldest death glare she could to get rid of any notion that she wasn't serious.** "And please, take it slow with him. He has been through so much."**

Ino gulped at the Kyuubi's threat. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

The Kyuubi sighed already knowing what she was going to ask. **"If you must."**

"Why do you care about him so much? I would think that you would be the only person with a legitimate reason to not like him."

The sighed again. **"Fine I guess you deserve to know that much after what I put you through."** The Kyuubi sat down cross legged. **"You must have noticed it by now."** The Kyuubi looked up into Ino's eyes, while she brushed her red and black hair off of her mocha colored face. **"I felt it much too late for my own good."**

"Felt what?"

"**Naruto... is like a natural intoxicant. I don't know what it is, but anyone who meets him is instantly drawn to him. I've seen it a lot these past few years. He would walk into a town and a week later people were ready to drop everything just to follow him."**

"What? Why?" Ino quirked her eyebrow in confusion.

"**He doesn't do it on purpose. His nature just brings out the best in those around him and when he leaves it feels like there is a void that can't be filled." **She lazily pointed a finger at Ino.** "You didn't notice it at all? You only started talking to him a month before he left, but when he returned did you even realize how happy you were?"**

Ino is taken back by the truth in the demon's words. "I didn't even realize how little I actually talked to him. In the past three years I've thought about him so much, but I barely knew anything about him."

"**I understand."** The Kyuubi blushed. **"I can tell you that the more you are around him the stronger those feelings will grow, but do not fret for I am happier now than I have ever been."**

"Really? So what made you fall for him?"

The Kyuubi crossed her arms.** "I'm not going to tell you my personal business. You should be grateful for what I've already told you."**

Ino refused to give up. "Well, if Naruto does like me then you will see a lot more of me and I want to know more about you. There are moments with you I find frightening, but sometimes you act really…. womanly."

She turned her head slightly to give Ino a small glare. **"Naruto's nature has rubbed off on me during my time with him. I wasn't always so open."**

"Speaking of that, I think Naruto has rubbed off on me too."

"**What do you mean?" **The Kyuubi canceled her glare jutsu and replaced it with a confused one.

Ino blushed slightly. "I ummmm... I felt one of his memories and now I kind of want what he wants."

"**Which memory?"**

"The one with Sakura." She said quickly.

The Kyuubi furrowed her brow and sighed. **"I see….. I apologize, but I'm afraid there is nothing I can do about that. You will be stuck with those feelings unless you can discern the difference between how you feel for her and how he feels for her."**

"Oh." She had a worried look on her face.

The powerful demon felt a pang of remorse so she decided to cut the girl a break. **"Very well I will let you know why I fell for him." **Ino perked up as if her sadness was only a ruse to guilt the Kyuubi into spilling some gossip.** "The first thing that drew me to Naruto happened during the time our chakras began to combine with each other. At the time I only wanted to escape his body and I was never kind to him. The only time I said anything to him was when I was threatening to kill him and I would often try to take over his body. When the combination process began it was excruciating for me, but instead of leaving me alone with my suffering he came through the bars of my prison and held me as I wept. Even when I lashed out and hurt him he refused to leave me until my pain receded. After that day I started to speak to him and before I knew it I was entranced."**

"So he held you and you fell in love with him?"

The Kyuubi scoffed. **"It wasn't as simple as that and no that wasn't the day I fell in love with him. The day I fell in love with him was the day he asked to court me."**

"He what?" The blonde yelled, which only worked to piss off the Kyuubi.

"**He walked up to me one day and asked, **'Would you give me the privilege of walking down your path and do me the honor of walking down mine?' **and after that I couldn't deny my feelings for him anymore."** A small smile formed on her lips that looked like the very description of girlishness. Her cryptic description of Naruto's words only confused Ino further.

"I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"**It was so cute. He did a lot of research about the customs of demons as well as the time period of my creation. Relationships in the demon world were sparse and the only form of intimacy between us was for procreation. He found that demons do not marry so there was no dating ritual for us to perform. Occasionally a bond between two demons formed and they would ask each other to walk the same path so they could spend more time together. Basically he was asking me out."**

"So you and Naruto are dating?"

"**I told him no."** She sighed in remorse.

"Why? I thought you loved him."

"**It's because I love him that I said no. I want nothing more than to take him away and leave every one of you behind, but that would be selfish of me. I want him to have the things I can't give him. I want him to have a family. If I knew of a way to make myself transubstantiate then I would do it and stay with Naruto wherever he wanted while we raised children of our own, but I cannot."**

The mind-walker put her head down. "I'm very sorry."

The Kyuubi put her hand up. **"Don't be. My path and his will forever be connected. I may have said no, but that doesn't change the fact that I am bound to him and he is bound to me in a literal sense. Plus, if I were to have said yes wouldn't that mean he is dating himself? He's already odd enough don't you think?" **The Kyuubi let out a slight giggle.

Ino held back her surprise at the Kyuubi's giggle and let a small one out herself. "Yeah he is."

"**However, lately I have felt my will cracking." **Her head lowered and a sad smile formed on her soft lips.** "I don't want to say no to him anymore. I've become so desperate that I appear to him while he sleeps. When he wakes up and asks me about it I pretend it wasn't real and make fun of him for dreaming about me."**

"You go into his dreams? What do you do in there that you won't do normally?"

The Kyuubi looked at Ino with an embarrassed glare.** "I will not tell you what I do in his dreams and you cannot guilt me into it this time. I've had enough of this sharing. I will talk to Naruto about you. Remember what you have seen here. Reflect on it as long as you wish and then leave. If you disperse your jutsu it will allow you enter your own body once more."** The Kyuubi said before disappearing and leaving a dumbstruck Ino.

Ino's thoughts instantly went back to the things she saw in the memories. The talk with the Kyuubi was a welcome distraction to the pain in her heart. She was trying to cover her feelings with light hearted chatter, but now there was no Kyuubi to talk to and she was alone with her thoughts. The omnipresent sadness wasn't able to be dulled and she began to cry once more. Not wanting to be in Naruto's mind for longer than she was welcomed, she dispersed her jutsu and left his body to rejoin everyone at the gate.

**(Flashback end)**

"You had a talk with Ino?"

"**You shouldn't concern yourself with that, but I think you should visit her."**

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I know. I promised her I would stop over soon. I guess I've had enough training for one day anyways." He prepared to leave his mind, but is stopped as the Kyuubi holds him tight. She pulled him to the ground and lay on top of him. The black and red tresses of her hair mixed with the blonde and red of his as she cuddled deeper into his chest. "Well maybe I can stay a little longer." Naruto said with a chuckle.

The Kyuubi only intertwined their legs and purred with content. Naruto concentrated for a moment and the cold cellar they were previously occupying turned into a beautiful field of wild daisies. They both look across the field at the never ending sunset that stood complacently at the horizon. **"I like this scenery a lot more."** The soft mocha colored skin of her hand shone through the fading sun as she gently caressed Naruto's face. Her bright cherry colored eyes closed and her white and red kimono splayed across Naruto's body as she stretched her legs across him. Quietly and peacefully the demon drifted off to sleep.

Naruto looked down at his beautiful prisoner and smiled. "Thank you for walking down my path, even though you won't let me down yours… yet." He planted a small kiss on her forehead and regrettably left his mind not noticing the small curve that formed on her lips.

Once he was back into the real world he dispersed the clones he had working on the new mud jutsu he created. Memories of repeated failures slam into his mind. _'Oh man! I can barely control the movement of the mud let alone harden it.'_ He furrowed his brow. _'I guess I do need Gaara's help.'_ Without making any hand signs a clone appeared next to him and ran off to deliver a message to the kage of the Sand nation via messenger hawk.

(Line break)

Naruto walked through town towards Ino's house. He was finally going to keep his word and visit her like he said he would. On the way he noticed the old districts have changed since the attack by Pain. Many of the same people still live there and the buildings are still constructed in a similar way as before, but what had changed are the attitudes of the townsfolk. No one gave him so much as a glare. The men smiled at him or thanked him. Some invited him over for dinner with their families or out for drinks on them. The women? Well, they did just as he expected and lamented. A swoon on his right, a squeal on his left, and multiple approaches from the more eager or less inhibited ones with less than virtuous offers of 'best nights' and 'generous thanks.'

He sighed happily as he approached Ino's door and the crowd of women backed away in fear of the kunoichi inside. Ino was well known for prying into the minds of people who bothered her and using the information she gathered against them. None of the women wanted to invoke her wrath. They were happy to wait until Naruto left her house to pursue him further.

Naruto knocked on the door and contentedly waited for an answer. When none came he knocked again, but still no one came. Thinking no one was home Naruto turned around to leave when the door flew open and a hand ripped him back into the house by his collar. The jinchuuriki was thrown onto a couch and with no time to recover before he was wrapped up by a sobbing blonde. "Hey Ino-chan. Ummm what's going on?"

She uncoiled her arms slightly and looked up at him. "I'm just so happy to see you!" She pressed her soft face into his neck.

"Well I'm happy to see you too. Why are you crying?" The mind-walker remembered what the Kyuubi said about Naruto loving when he was bonked on the head and she faked an angry look to scare him.

"You never called!"

BONK!

"You never wrote!"

SMACK!

"And worst of all you never visited!"

CRUNCH!

"If I didn't miss you so much I would kick your ass all day!" She yelled as she dove down and hugged him again.

Naruto rubbed his head where she hit him. The hits didn't hurt, but they were never intended to harm him and they both knew that. It was for nostalgia's sake. Well….. maybe he should have also written a letter, but it was mostly for nostalgia. "I'm sorry Ino-chan. I didn't know you cared so much." He gave her the largest grin he could.

"Baka." She let go of him and crossed her arms as she turned away with a cute pout on her lips. "Of course I missed you. We all did."

"Now do you mind if I ask why you were crying earlier?" He said as he picked her face up to look at him.

"Well I was crying because I was happy to see you, but honestly I'm surprised." She said in a soft tone.

"Why are you surprised?" Naruto grinned once more. "Didn't expect to be so amazed by me?"

"No. I knew I would cry, but I thought it would be because I was sad."

Naruto sighed. "This is because of Kyuubi-chan isn't it?"

"It's not her fault Naruto-kun. She really cares for you." She leaned forward and held him gently. "She showed me your life." Naruto's eyes went wide with fear. "I don't know how you turned out as perfect as you are, but after I saw all the horrible things you went through I wanted to hole myself away and never leave my house. Then I saw you standing outside my door and all my sadness went away and was replaced with joy that you're finally back in Konoha and you're safe!"

"Well I'm glad you are better Ino-chan. I came here thinking the worst and I can't tell you how happy I am to see you're well." He gave her a small happy smile. It was the kind of smile that let the person receiving it know that they are cared for and loved by the person giving it. She melted into his arms like butter on a hot day.

Naruto stood up and Ino whined. "Where are you going? You just got here!"

Naruto lowers his hand to help her stand. "I'm not going to leave you yet Ino-chan." He said as he smiled at her. "You shouldn't assume things just because I stood up."

She took his hand blushing that she jumped to conclusions. "So what are you doing then?"

"Well I just got done with some training and I'm starving. I was wondering if you wanted to eat with me." He put his hand over his empty stomach.

Ino squealed in delight. "Yeah!" She corrected herself. "Ummmm I mean yes that would be lovely Naruto-kun." She ran up the stairs to her room and yelled back. "Just give me a minute!" Clothes were thrown around wildly as she rummaged through her drawers looking for the specific purple top that made her chest pop. _'I'm calling this a date. I don't care if he doesn't think so!'_

Naruto lay on the couch bored out of his mind. "She said it would only be a minute twenty minutes ago." He said while he buried his face into a cushion and a loud resounding growl emanated from his stomach.

The sound of a voice clearing made him hit the floor in shock. "Sorry for making you wait so long Naruto-kun."

Naruto picked his head up to look at the mind walker. "Well that's no probleeeeeeahhhhh..." Naruto drooled as Ino leaned over him with her arms held casually behind her back to allow her ample breasts to hang in front of his face. The purple top she was wearing looked oddly similar to the one she wore when she was a genin. With how tight it fit around her chest Naruto didn't doubt that it was the exact same top she used to wear. A small break in her attire revealed the unbelievably sexy zone known as 'Ino's midriff.' Although she only revealed a small amount of her stomach before her skirt began to cover it, the small area of skin that was shown was a smooth white patch of firm beauty. That brought Naruto's attention to her skirt. Or what little there was of it anyways for it stopped so high on her legs that Naruto had to close his eyes to stop from finding out what color underwear she was wearing... if she had any on at all he thought deviously.

Ino pretended that Naruto didn't just eye fuck her until she couldn't walk and gave a cute little smile. "Good. I'm glad it's no probleeeeeaah. Whatever the hell that means." She offered him a hand, which he gratefully took and stood up. "So where do you want to eat?" She said as she wiggled her breasts around to entice his eyes.

To Ino's dismay Naruto was too strong to fall prey to her whimsical advances and he never looked down at her swaying chest. "I was thinking Ichiraku's if that's ok with you Ino-chan."

Ino blushed slightly still not fully used to being called Ino-chan. "Sure. I haven't been there in a long time." She started to walk towards the door before she turned around and gave him her best pout. "But next time you take me out to eat we need to go somewhere different. You can't just eat ramen all the time Na-ru-to-kun." She said his name slow and seductive as her big blue eyes glittered with little sparkles.

Naruto stopped. _'Oh Ino. It's cute that you're trying, but now that I'm ready for your sexy little tactics I won't lose my cool.'_ She pouted her lips a little harder and Naruto fidgeted. _'Ehh. Well I can keep it under wraps most of the time.'_ She turned around and swayed her hips as she walked to the door, which left Naruto checking his nose for blood. _'Damn. This is gonna be hard.'_

**The name Kyomu means nothingness.**

**That's chappy 6! You like? I honestly never thought I'd write anything like this when I started. I didn't have many set plans, but I can say that Ino and Sakura sharing a kiss was never going to be one of them. If I do make a harem it would probably be Sakura, Ino, and the Kyuubi. Possibly Tsume as well, but that's because my plan for the Inuzuka clan lets it remain a possibility. **

**I suppose I could hold that to a vote. Who wants Tsume? Raise your hand please. Or leave it in a review. I'm not choosey. I'm also very open to suggestions. If there is enough support for one person I never mentioned I can't see any reason why I couldn't accommodate. I mean I haven't even introduced Hinata yet, which I will do soon enough.**

**Bee tee dubya I think my next chapter will arrive sooner than this last one. I actually kind of know what I want to write for once haha.**


	7. I missed you

**I don't own Naruto.**

**I'm really happy with all the reviews from last chapter! I'm glad people like the story so far and I hope I can make it even better.**

**It's taken a while, but the outline I had for the story will be coming up in the next few chapters. Never thought it would take this long, but things don't always work out like we plan.**

**Prepare for a taste of why I rated this thing M!**

**Here's chapter 7!**

Naruto and Ino walked through the rebuilt districts of Konoha towards Ichiraku Ramen. The crowd of women that had followed Naruto to Ino's house was trailing behind them trying to remain unseen, but they forgot they were following ninja so they might as well have been standing right in front of the duo. Ino made a mental note to remember who a few of the women were for later gossip extraction. "So Naruto-kun it seems like you've developed a following." Ino said trying not to sound jealous.

"You mean them?" He pointed behind them at the gaggle of women trying to hide behind lampposts and bushes that were too small to cover them. "They just started following me today. It's weird though. As soon as I made it to your door they wouldn't get within fifty feet of me." He said looking up and holding his chin.

Ino gave a devious smile. "Yeah, I wonder why that is." She quickly turned around and gave the women the hardest glare they've ever seen, which caused them to freak out and disperse like cockroaches when the lights go on. They didn't stay away long though because after a few minutes they began forming a small mob behind them just as before.

Naruto wasn't the only one with a following. Almost every guy they walked by stopped what they were doing and stared at Ino. Naruto was getting sick of it, but he can't stop people from looking. However, if anyone said or did anything else besides just look at Ino, Naruto had paint bombs with timers strapped all over his body, which he would use with a substitution jutsu to inflict his own brand of punishment for perverts. As the pair walked through a district they would hear a small explosion in the background occasionally. Ino noticed Naruto smile every time they heard one, but she had no idea why. She could here him mumble something about 'perverts' and 'divine paint justice' or something like that.

Ino finally decided to end their comfortable silence. "So Naruto-kun." He turned his head to look at her. "What the hell took you so long to get back here?"

Naruto chuckled at the elegant wording of his fellow blonde. "Well when we left here to find Sasuke we didn't actually have any information on his whereabouts. We followed a lead we got from a Cloud ninja and went to the Lightning country. There we spoke to another jinchuuriki named Killer Bee and he told us he was attacked by Sasuke, but that he didn't know where he went. He also told us that the Akatsuki are always recruiting missing ninja to strengthen their ranks. Since we had no other leads we decided to track any missing ninja we could find. Eventually we got lucky and found a recruiter. From there on it was just a matter of time before we found Sasuke." He smiled at his job well done.

"You're telling me that for three years all you did was track missing ninja?"

"Yeah and if there is one thing I can say about every missing ninja it's that they REALLY don't like being tracked haha." Ino laughed with him. "It took us two of the three years to find the recruiter for the Akatsuki and in that time we caught so many ninja that we didn't know what to do with them! I'm not complaining because all that fighting with high powered ninja had its rewards. I'm sure we put huge dents in everyone's bingo books because after all those bounties are collected I will have enough money to buy ramen for the rest of my life!" His eyes lit up at the prospect. "But enough about me. What have you been up to Ino-chan?"

Ino wanted to know more about his time away, but she couldn't pass on an opportunity to talk about gossip and her life. She told him about her apprenticeship under her father in the Torture and Interrogation department and the on goings of the flower shop. She also told him she was the one who first found out that Shikamaru liked Temari. One day a lazy looking man came into the flower shop and bought some flowers that she saw Temari holding later that day. She asked Shikamaru about it, but of course he denied until she told him she would probe his mind for more than just his relationship with Temari. He sang like a canary and Naruto laughed at his lazy friend's expense.

They eventually arrived at Ichiraku's, but the two of them were so focused on catching up with each other they kept exchanging stories well into their meal. By the time they were done eating the two knew more about than they had ever thought one meal together could produce. As Naruto paid the bill Ino thought about how happy she was to have finally gotten to know him. _'The Kyuubi was right. Just being near him makes me so happy. After only one afternoon with him I don't think I want him to leave me for even one second.' _

Naruto walked up to Ino and smiled. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." The two walked most of the way back to Ino's in silence. The only time they talked was when Ino asked if the town was being remodeled or something because there was so much paint coating the roads while they walked through. Naruto would just laugh every time she brought it up and say he didn't think that was it.

They reached the door Ino's house and she opened the door for them to enter, but Naruto didn't walk in with her. "I'm sorry Ino-chan. I have to get going for now." She turned around and walked back through the open door frame.

"Why? I was having fun." She pouted.

He smirked at her cute expression. "I was having fun too, but I have to take care of a very important errand with Sasuke."

She stopped pouting and smiled. "Well ok. How long is it going to take? You can come over when you're done if you want."

"It'll take me almost all night to get this done. I have to apply a special seal to him and his group, but it is very delicate and I don't want to mess it up." He said to Ino's chagrin.

Ino sighed. "Fine. You're off the hook tonight, but I want to see you soon. Got it?"

Naruto waved his hands in defense. "I got it. I'll visit soon."

Ino grabbed his hand and held it softly. "Thank you for the wonderful time Naruto-kun." The soft touch comforted them both.

Her beautiful blue eyes bore into his and he smiled. "It was my pleasure Ino-chan. I really enjoyed spending the day with you."

Ino began rubbing small circles on his hand with her fingers. Her other hand came forward and slightly pushed up against his chest, but she didn't remove it. "Well when did you become such a charmer?"

Naruto raised a brow. "A charmer?" He chuckled. "I may be a lot of things, but I never considered myself charming."

The hand Ino placed on Naruto's chest started to move up and down slightly. "It's even more charming that you don't know you're doing it."

Naruto laughed a little. "Thanks Ino-chan, but you don't need to try and boost my confidence. My ego is still intact."

Both of Ino's hands stop moving. "How have you not been charming this entire time?" Naruto looked at her confusedly. "You come to my house out of sincere worry for me, you comfort me when I'm sad, you take me out to eat, and the whole time you did it without staring at my chest which I have tried so hard to make accessible to your eyes."

A small blush fell across Naruto's face, but he was still confused. "That's what charming is? I thought that was just normal."

Ino's jaw hit the floor. "Oh my Kami you're so flipping cute."

"I'm not cute!" He bellowed. "I'm not charming either because I did look at your chest so ha!" He smirked in victory thinking he knew more about himself than she did. Naruto winced. '_Whoops_.'

"Hey stupid." Ino deadpanned.

"Huh?" He answered in fear of a smack down.

Her hand slid off of Naruto's abdomen. "I wanted you to look at my chest. Why the hell would I wear this if I didn't?" She said pointing down to her tight purple top, which was almost bursting off of her large chest.

Naruto looked down at her amazingly sculpted chest, but quickly looked back into her eyes. "Umm it's good fashion?" Naruto questioned.

Ino smirked at his reaction. Leave it to Naruto to know nothing about fashion. "That was a rhetorical question. I didn't dress like a hooker for fashion. I wanted your attention on me baka."

Naruto scratched his head. "I think your outfit is nice Ino-chan."

"Shut off the romantics Romeo." She said as she face palmed herself.

Naruto decided to just cut his losses and change the subject. "Anyways Ino-chan. I had a great time and I can't wait to do it again. I'll check in with you real soon ok?" He was about to turn and walk away, but Ino grabbed his hand.

She took his hands and placed it on her lower back just above her ass so Naruto could get a touch of her body without feeling like a pervert. Forcing his hands down that low made his face almost come in contact with hers. "You're not getting away that easy. Were you really going to leave without giving me a hug?" Her speech was slightly breathy so he could feel her exhaled air across his lips.

Blood rushed into his face as his lips tingled with excitement. "Oh. I'm sorry Ino-chan." He moved forward and put his arms further around her as she pushed herself into him. The hug was much more intimate than what friends should be doing and Naruto felt slightly weird about it. He fidgeted, but Ino held on tightly and moved her face back so it was inches from his. It felt like an eternity to them as they silently stared into each others eyes.

Ino knew she was supposed to take it slow with Naruto, but she was finding it difficult to not kiss him right there. He was the only person she knew was irrevocably nice. He would give you everything he had and then some, but now he's standing in front of her and he's holding back. She didn't like that. It may have been selfish of her, but she wanted everything Naruto could give and now was her time to take it. She was going to lean forward and kiss him whether he was ready or not.

Naruto knew what she was going to do. He wasn't ready to have a relationship yet and although his time with Ino was great he wanted to keep them as friends for now. Their relationship was precious to him and he couldn't allow it to change. All he wanted was to be happy with his friends for a little longer before he started anything serious with anyone and possibly screwed something up. On the other hand, Ino has been so kind to him and he's not sure that he doesn't want to let her finish what she was about to begin because he knows it would make her happy. Ino started to lean forward and he made his decision. Naruto gently put his hand on the back of her head and leaned it forward so he could plant a soft kiss on her forehead.

He let go and she stumbled back a bit. A look of disappointment was in her eyes initially, but it was soon replaced with a genuine smile. _'I can't believe I almost forced a kiss on him on our first date. Thank you Naruto. You really know how to spare a girl's feelings._' A small blush crept onto her face. "Don't be a stranger. I expect to see you soon. Ok?" She gave him a cute pout.

"Of course Ino-chan. I will visit as soon as I have some time." He said with a smile as he turned around and walked away. _'I can't even have a simple meal with someone without them trying to kiss me anymore.'_

As he walked down the streets he secretly cut off the Kyuubi from his memory and made an army of shadow clones to finish perfecting his five element rasengan. The action was so quick the Kyuubi didn't even know what happened.

"**How was your date Naruto-kun?"**

Naruto sighed. "It wasn't a date Kyuubi-chan. Just a meal between friends."

"**Looked like a date to me."** The Kyuubi chuckled.

"Well you can stop trying to play matchmaker. I have enough to do as it is without starting a relationship." Naruto said plainly.

"**Fine Mr. Grumpy Face. I'll stop trying to persuade you and let you handle this yourself."** She gave him a mental pout.

Naruto was shocked that she complied so willingly. "Umm thank you." He said in a wary voice.

"**You are so very welcome Naruto-kun."** She knew he was frightened that she would do something to mess with him, but in this case there is no catch. The Kyuubi will not allow Naruto to be heartbroken ever again. If even one more thing goes wrong in his life she is going to talk him into leaving the village forever of that she is sure. She may not be able to give him children, but Naruto knew that she wasn't able to when he asked to court her. He may want a family, but in the end they both know he would be happy to spend his days with the Kyuubi in their own personal paradise. There is more to life than just raising kids and the Kyuubi no Kitsune would give him those things in spades.

(Line break)

Naruto stood outside Konoha's hospital after easily losing the crowd of women that followed him. He could tell Sakura was in there right now, but he couldn't put off going inside any longer because he needed to put the seals on Sasuke, Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin. _'Stop being a wuss Naruto. You had to see her eventually.'_ Taking one last breath of fresh air he walked through the doors and into Sakura's domain. The room had an overpowering smell of ammonia from all of the cleaners used daily to keep the place sterile, but Naruto could still smell the faint, lingering aroma of Sakura on the walls. Countless hours of the pinkette contributing her blood, sweat, and tears have left their mark as an ever-present smell of lilac and pomegranate. His heart began to beat out of his chest. Naruto wasn't sure if he was calming down or getting riled up. It's an odd feeling to have your heart speed up, but be entirely relaxed. She always did have that kind of effect on him.

Since her scent was everywhere he didn't know which areas to avoid if he didn't want to see her. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and decided to move on when he realized he never put a seal inside the hospital. He quickly followed the signs to the emergency care department. _'I forgot to put a seal here._ _That could have been bad.'_ He slammed his hand into the wall and a small seal appeared before it slowly faded away. _'There. Now I can come here anytime I need to.'_ He turned around to head to the stairs so he could go to the floor where Sasuke and the rest of his gang were, but instead he was faced with a different situation.

Sakura stood not two feet from him looking over a chart. He didn't really get a good look at her when she was at the gate because he knew anything more than a cursory glance may have led to him saying more than he intended. Now he has time to drink in her full form and he planned on taking it. She must have been severely wrapped up in her work if she couldn't notice someone staring at her from two feet away, but Naruto didn't care. Instead he watched her smooth hands scribble something onto the chart she was holding, the small muscles in her forearms pushing and pulling on each other.

He watched as she pushed some stray hair out of her eyes and curved it behind her ear to expose her neck to him. One of the most enticing things to Naruto was Sakura's neck. Long ago Sakura tried to teach Naruto a few things about muscles to help him with training. When they made it to the muscles of the neck Sakura pulled her hair back and explained the main ones by pointing them out with her fingers. His favorite part of Sakura from then on was the small area she left bare for him to see. Specifically the sternocleidomastoid. He was never very book smart, but he remembers her explanation clearly. 'The sternocleidomastoid is the muscle that connects the mastoid process on the back of your skull to your sternum.' He had no idea what it meant, but all he new was she let him run her hand across her smooth neck, which was the first time she willingly let him touch her. Staring long enough at her neck eventually brought his focus to her face. He noticed it was contorted into an unhappy expression and he almost made a move to go help comfort her, but he pushed back his desire to talk to her and he turned to head away in a different direction. "Naruto?" Too late.

Naruto stopped and turned around trying to mask his worry about her sad demeanor. "Hello Sakura." He said trying to sound as unemotional as possible.

She ran forward and crushed up against him with a powerful hug. "I missed you so much!" The pinkette yelled with tears in her eyes.

As soon as Naruto felt her smooth arms wrap around him he felt his will breaking. She held onto him so tightly, but he never put his arms around her. He thought that if he returned the hug he might not let go. Instead one hand lay by his side while the other hovered over the back of her head. He desperately wanted to run a hand through her silky pink locks, but he was afraid of becoming too attached to her again so instead he crushed his hand into a fist and forced it down to his side. Sakura noticed he never returned the hug and backed away, saddened by his complete lack of affection for her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Can we talk?" She said trying to hold back from crying because she believed Naruto didn't want anything to do with her.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but I can't. I have to complete a very important errand right now."

Sakura looked down as the tears began to form in her eyes again. "Oh. Ok I understand. Maybe when you're done then?" She said still keeping her head down.

"I'll probably be too tired then. My errand is going to take a very long time." He was about to break if he didn't bend a little. He has devoted so much time to make her happy and now she was about to cry because of him. It was too much for him to handle. Naruto sighed. "You know what?" She looked up at him with her broken heart showing through her expression. "I have a couple of minutes now. We can talk for a little while I guess."

Sakura perked up. "Really?" She said with a small smile and Naruto nodded. "Alright then follow me." She took him to a small abandoned office outside of the emergency room and closed the door behind them.

"So what do you want to talk to me about?" Naruto asked nicely.

Sakura still couldn't look him in the eye. "I want to say how much I missed you. I've thought about you a lot these past three years and now that your back we can finally talk." She crossed her hands in front of her. "I wanted to tell you that I am so sorry for all the things I've done to you." She blatantly stated.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean? You have nothing to apologize for Sakura." She winced at the lack of -chan at the end of her name.

"Of course I do!" She screamed as she lifted her head to look him in the eye. "I've treated you horribly your whole life and you still sit there and pretend it's no big deal! I'm a terrible person can't you see that?"

"I don't think you're a terrible person." He said as kindly as he could. "The things we did when we were kids are in the past. We were kids after all. Plus, you treated me fine."

"No I didn't! I was awful. I hit you, made fun of you and worse." She put her head back down.

Naruto felt a pang in his heart because he knew that when she said 'worse' she was talking about their kiss. "I don't look at it that way. Making fun of me or hitting me never really bothered me. Actually it made me happy." He smiled.

She noticed that the 'worse' did bother him because he left it out. "Why won't you hate me?"

Naruto sighed. "I could never hate you Haruno-san."

Sakura's eyes go wide. "Ha...Haruno-san?" She fell to the floor and threw her hands to her face. "Why Naruto?" She cried hysterically. "Do you not know me anymore? Are we strangers? Have I hurt you that badly?"

Naruto tried to hold back from picking her up and saying how sorry he was for calling her by her surname like a stranger. "I realized we are strangers Haruno-san. I haven't been here for three years. I don't really know you anymore just like you don't know me."

The pain in her chest is new. When she upset Naruto long ago she had felt a painful guilt, but this was entirely different and much more terrible. She fell back and held her chest as the pain threatened to choke her. "Naruto please don't do this. I have spent the last three years thinking about the next time I would see you. I was so afraid you would hate me, but this... this feels so much worse." She pleaded with him. "I need you to be with me! Even if it can never be the same as before I don't care just please don't fall away from me and pretend like I don't exist!"

Naruto's resolve is broken.

Three years thinking about only one person will cause these kinds of things to happen. The decision between her immediate happiness with him or her future happiness without him was on the ground right in front of him. _'Like you don't exist?'_ He questioned his own movements, but in the end he knew this was going to be the outcome. He couldn't help, but to lean down and pull her into a hug. They both shuddered as he ran his fingers through her pink hair and she cried into his shoulder. "It's ok." He whispered small words of comfort to her. She clawed into his back to hold him in place. The fear of him walking away was still present in the form of a lingering pain in her chest. Her tears soon dried up, but her breath still hadn't evened out.

"I missed you (sniff) so much Naruto-kun." She said finally gaining the courage to add the honorific.

Sakura snuggled further into Naruto's chest and her hold on his back finally loosened. "I missed you too Sakura." Her eyes lit up like the fourth of July and Naruto smiled at her.

"**I don't think you should do this."** His prisoner stated

_'I know.'_ He replied.

Naruto stood up and helped Sakura stand with him. They let go of their hug, but held onto each others hands. "I've waited so long to be with you like this." She said with a pink blush across her cheeks.

Naruto gave her a smile. "I have too."

She laced her fingers with his and blood rushed to both of their cheeks.

"**You're going to end up hurt."**

'_Probably_.'

Sakura leaned her body into him and she took her hands out of his to rest them against his chest. Green eyes lock with blue and before Sakura realized what she was doing she was already leaning forward with closed eyes. The distance between them was closing and Naruto didn't care.

"**NARUTO-KUN!"**

He stopped her progress with a gentle hand to her cheek. "Sakura." She abruptly stopped and looked at him patiently. "Things are not going to be this easy. I could never hate you, but my trust is broken. It will take a lot more than tears to rebuild our friendship." He said to diffuse the situation they were in.

"**You're lying. Your trust is too easily won Naruto-kun."**

_'I can't help it.'_

The medic pulled back with a slightly shocked look on her face. _'What was I doing? He just wants to be friends. Why would he want me anyways?'_ She adjusted her clothes and gave a sad smile. "I understand Naruto-kun. I just got caught up."

He smiled knowing she accepted what he was saying. "With that said, I would like to rebuild our trust. Would you like to have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Her hands clasped together in happiness. "Yes!" She screamed.

He attempted to clear his ears of ringing. "Ok then. Noon at Ichiraku's it is. See you later Sakura." Naruto walked away without letting her complain about the meal choice and left the door open behind him.

Sakura sighed in happiness. _'I'll repair our friendship Naruto-kun. I'll be your best friend if that's all you really want from me. I think I want more, but I won't risk driving you away.'_ With her shift over she happily left the hospital to go visit her other blonde friend and tell her the news about Naruto. Also, Ino needs to explain what that kiss she gave her earlier was all about.

(Line break)

Naruto began walking to the third floor to see Sasuke and the rest of Taka. **"Naruto-kun. You've made a mistake."**

_'I know I have.'_ He replied softly.

"**That girl is confused I can see it! She's torn! How can you keep forgiving her after all she has done to you?"**

_'She has done more good than harm Kyuubi-chan. You know she was the very first person to talk to me even before Ino-chan did. Was I supposed to ignore her like people did to me my whole life? She asked me to acknowledge her and if I didn't I would be no better than the people that hurt me.'_

The Kyuubi sighed. **"Sometimes I wish I didn't love you so much."**

Naruto chuckled. _'Ha no you don't. You know why I did what I did.'_

"**I know, but the right thing to do would be to become friends with her and leave it at that or not become friends at all."** The Kyuubi said forlornly.

_'Who says I couldn't do that?'_ Naruto scoffed.

The Kyuubi smiled. **"I'm in your head Naruto-kun. Plus, I know you. You've already become far too attached and you only talked for a few minutes."**

_'You're wrong Kyuubi-chan.'_ Naruto thought quietly._ 'I haven't become any more attached to her in these past few minutes than I have been since the day I met her.'_ He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. _'I can't find it in my heart to stay mad at anyone and you know that. Look at Sasuke! The bastard tried to kill me and he's one of my best friends!'_

The demoness sighed once more. **"I understand and I apologize. I told you I would mind my own business when it comes to your relationships, but here I am telling you what to do."** She said remorsefully.

'_No need to say sorry. I value your opinion more than anyone's and I want to know what you think. I just don't want you to mess with my body while I'm talking to people.'_ He could feel the Kyuubi smirk.

"**Little 'ol me?"** She said cutely.

'_That cute voice has only been followed by my pain.'_ Naruto deadpans.

"**On another note it's almost scary how similar her apology was to mine." **The Kyuubi thought out loud. **"She even asked why you won't hate her just like I did."**

'_Why won't the women in my life understand there is nothing to apologize for!_' Naruto yelled to himself. _'You guys didn't try to….._'

Suddenly memories of the clones he sent to work on the five element rasengan hit him like a ton of bricks. He quickly cut off the Kyuubi from his memory. _'Oh my.'_ Naruto frowned. _'That is absolutely... frightening. That technique can never see the light of day again.'_

"**Naruto-kun? Are you alright?"** The Kyuubi asks worriedly.

_'Oh uh yeah. Just got a head rush.'_ He stammered out.

"**Well anyways."** She said suspiciously. **"Good luck with the sealing.** **I'm going to take a little nap."**

_'That was close.'_ Naruto clutched his chest. _'What the hell was that? I never thought I'd feel pity for a clone, but the one that went through that door got the short stick.'_ Naruto wanted to reflect more on the information the clones just provided for him, but he arrived at his destination.

The blonde junchuuriki opened the door to Sasuke's room to find Suigetsu asleep on a chair, while Jugo stared out the window. Sasuke was lying in a hospital bed, but seemed to be fully recovered because he was awake enough to listen to Karin's constant ramblings. "Hey guys how you doing?" Naruto asked non-nonchalantly.

Karin's eyes shift off of Sasuke and on to Naruto. "Hey Naruto-kun! We were just waiting for you." She said happily.

Suigetsu began to stir. "Shut the fuck up. I'm trying to sleep ya assholes." He murmured to the group as he shifted in his seat and held his sword closer to his chest.

Karin promptly walked over and punched him in the neck. "Wake up you jackass! Naruto-kun's here!"

Suigetsu stumbled out of his chair holding his throat. (cough) "You bitch!" (cough cough) "You coulda killed me!" He screamed at her.

She screamed back. "I'm gonna!"

Naruto moved between the two. "Alright alright everyone just settle down. I need to tell you all one more thing about the seal I failed to mention before." That got their attention. The three standing members of Taka moved calmly next to Sasuke's bed. Oddly enough even Suigetsu seemed patient with Naruto. "I told you before that the sealing will be painful, but that's not the only problem you guys might have with the procedure."

Sasuke raised and eyebrow. "What would be worse than blinding pain?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well... I kind of have to mark your bodies with the seal in ink first."

Suigetsu crossed his arms. "So what?"

Naruto chuckled. "I have to mark your entire body with the seal. From head to toe."

Suigetsu threw his arms up in the air. "Oh hell no you don't! You're ain't touchin my man handle you sunava..."

"Suigetsu." Sasuke said cutting him off.

The blue haired man turned to Sasuke. "I don't care Sasuke. I'm not..." Suigetsu immediately hit the floor unconscious. The Uchiha had knocked him out with his sharingan to stop any further problems.

The tomoe in Sasuke's eyes stop swirling and he looked to Naruto. "I can't say I'm comfortable with this, but if it must be done." Sasuke said emotionless as always.

Naruto looked to Jugo next. "I assumed this was going to be a necessity for the seal." The giant said. "It does not bother me." He was calm about the whole thing.

Naruto looked to Karin. "Are you going to be okay Karin-chan?" He said with a slight blush on his face.

Karin was looking down at her feet and seemed to be fidgeting around quite a bit. "So... you are going to draw all over my body?" She asked with a shaky voice.

"Yes."

"And I have to be nude?" She asked for clarity.

Naruto furrowed his brow. "Well you can be covered with towels for most of the time, but at some point I will have to finish the seal on the places that are covered." He said.

"Oh." She said quietly.

Naruto put his head down. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier. Honestly I've never had to do this kind of seal on anyone so I didn't even think about what went into completing it."

Karin put her hand up to stop him. "No Naruto-kun it's okay. If it has to be done then I can deal with it." She was secretly excited about showing off her goodies to Naruto.

Naruto smiled. "Well okay then. First I'll take Suigetsu and then Jugo. By the time I get to you two." He pointed to Sasuke and Karin. "I should have enough practice to get it over with quickly." The remaining conscious members all nodded. Naruto bent over and lifted the unconscious Suigetsu onto his shoulder. "Well I'll see you guys in a little bit." He said waving as he left.

As soon as Naruto walked out Karin ran to the bathroom to prepare for the sealing. She had to at least take a shower and shave her legs before her Naruto-kun could see them.

All Naruto could think was. _'Karin-chan huh? Maybe this won't be all bad.'_ He forced the perverted thoughts out of his head, but unfortunately his attention then turned to the man on his shoulder. _'Oh man is Suigetsu gonna be pissed when he wakes up and sees the seal. He acts like I wana do this. I'm definitely going to make a clone write on him and then erase the memory before it gets to me... and also burn the clone."_ Naruto said happy he could deny ever touching the blue haired man.

(About five hours later)

Naruto walked into the room hospital room holding an unconscious Sasuke. He placed him on an open bed next to the similarly unconscious Suigetsu. Jugo never winced one time during the sealing and he did not fall unconscious from the pain. He said the curse that ran through his blood tended to be much more painful and the new seal felt like a pinprick by comparison so he was just staring out the window again.

Karin was sleeping in a chair when Naruto awoke her. "Are you ready Karin-chan?" He said squatting down to her sitting height.

She stirred and slowly opened her eyes. "Hai Naruto-kun." She said groggily.

Naruto took her hand and helped her stand. They walked out the door and began the trek to the sealing room in the basement. "Good news Karin-chan." He said smiling. "After practicing the seal so much I have figured out how to reduce the pain enormously. It will still hurt like hell, but I don't think you will pass out like Sasuke did."

She wrapped his hand with hers. "Oh that's wonderful Naruto-kun." Naruto thought she would let go of his hand, but she didn't. She held it the whole way to the sealing room. Naruto felt weird, but he knew things were only going to get more awkward so he thought this was her way to ease into it. As they walked into the sealing room Karin saw twenty Naruto clones with ink and brushes coating the walls with seals. In the center of the room were three large pillars grouped together that were also covered in the same seals that were on the walls. The pillars were arranged so that there was a space in the middle, which Karin figured was the focal point and therefore would be where she was sitting as Naruto drew on her.

Naruto pointed to a door on the side of the room. "There's a bathroom over there with towels. As soon as you're ready I'll be waiting inside those pillars for you." Naruto said calmly to try and soothe any worries she might have.

"Thank you Naruto-kun. I'll be out soon." She said in a way that Naruto noticed sounded almost giddy.

Naruto walked into the pillars and sat down in the middle. _'Be strong Naruto. You can do this.'_ He let out an exasperated sigh and looked down at his groin. "You better not embarrass me." He said aloud.

"What did you say Naruto-kun?" Karin said leaning up against a pillar.

Naruto turned his head to look at her. "Oh nothing Karin-chan. I was just…." Naruto was shocked. Karin stood in front of him wearing two small towels that looked more like handkerchiefs on her. One handkerchief was over her chest and the other was over her waist giving Naruto a look at everything except her most delicate parts. Both of the towels were extremely short giving Naruto an appreciative look at her flat stomach and her toned thighs. She seductively had one finger playing with the top of the hem of the small towel around her chest and was slowly dragging the towel down, but not letting it fall.

Karin smiled happily at his reaction. "Forget I asked Naruto-kun." She walked over to him swaying her hips the whole way in an attempt to make Naruto drool. She felt she was close to that goal. "Where do you want me?" She purred with an obvious double meaning.

Naruto droned out. "Uh I want you on the floor." He thought about what he said. "I mean it would be easiest to apply the seals if you sat on the floor!" Karin smirked and sat down in the center of the pillars. Naruto looked around and saw all of his clones had stopped working and were staring at the almost nude Karin. "Get back to work you slackers!" He yelled and they all scurried back to the walls to continue drawing, but still throwing obvious glances at the girl in the room.

Naruto looked back down at the red haired beauty and observed that she had an amazing body for a non-combat kunoichi. It was wonderfully tight and toned in all the right places. Her ass looked to be firm and her b-cup breasts were remarkably pert. Naruto was having a hard time fighting the perverted thoughts that were trying to invade his mind. "Alright Karin-chan. I'm about to begin. Is there anything you want to know before I start?" He had asked the question as a formality not thinking she might actually have a question.

She shuffled around a little. "Umm actually there is." She said quietly.

"What would you like to know?" He raised an eyebrow.

She put her head down slightly. "Well since you are going to see all of me." She trailed off.

"Yeah?" He saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "I'll do whatever I can to make you more comfortable Karin-chan." He said with a smile.

"Good!" She perked up with a smile. "Then take off all of your clothes!" Every one of the clones stopped what they were doing and stared at the wide eyed original Naruto.

"You want me to what?" He said in a loud scared voice.

"**This one moves quick Naruto-kun."** The Kyuubi chuckled.

'_Is this your doing?'_

"**Not this time."**

Karin just smiled. "I'm nervous about this and I think if you were also naked while we did it." Naruto slapped himself in the head over her insinuation of 'doing it.' "It would make me more comfortable." She was beaming with happiness that her plan was coming to fruition.

Naruto sighed. "I'm willing to sacrifice my comfort to help you, but that is too far." He furrowed his brow. "I'll go as far as taking my shirt off. I hope that is enough to help calm your nerves." He said quickly.

The red eyed woman pouted that she wasn't going to get a full show, but her feeling of loss she felt was replaced with awe as Naruto lifted his black shirt over his head and tossed it to a clone. She planned on making him drool, but here she was about to collect a puddle of saliva under her chin for the man-god in front of her. A familiar pooling of heat settled between her thighs and her face gained a pink tint.

The smell of her arousal permeated the air and Naruto needed to control the situation now or things might have got out of hand. More specifically he might have got out of hand. He still didn't have full reign over the animalistic side of his chakra and he was afraid that Karin might be the first one to see him go a little out of control. He would do everything in his power to prevent that from happening.

He took a deep breath. "Alright Karin-chan. If you're ready please lay on your stomach with your arms against your sides." She turned over to lie on her stomach saddened that she could no longer see Naruto shirtless. "The plan is to do your entire backside first. Once that dries I'll move on to the front."

"Hai Naruto-kun." She said in eager anticipation.

Naruto settled next to her and took out a brush and several containers of ink. He readied his supplies and dipped the brush into the first container. As the first stroke swiped against Karin's skin she could feel the ink was laced with Naruto's chakra. An overwhelming feeling of pleasure racked her body and she moaned in pleasure as she felt the brush move painfully slow across her shoulder allowing her to literally be immersed in Naruto's warm and loving chakra. It was like an unbelievably relaxing massage only instead of Naruto's hands, which she desperately wanted on her; it was the end of a brush stroke that gave her satisfaction. _'If he feels this good outside my body I wondered what he would feel like inside?'_ She smirked devilishly at her thoughts.

Once Naruto made it to the first towel Karin reached back and unpinned it to allow the small cloth to fall to the side. The sides of her breasts were exposed as they mashed into the towel she was laying on. Naruto held his composure, but nearly lost it when he leaned over her and accidentally rubbed up against her newly exposed flesh, which caused the red-head to release a loud moan and drench the air with her craving for Naruto. The honey flavored smell emanating from Karin's reproductive organ was causing Naruto to lose his composure and it greatly upset him that another person's desire could get him so riled up.

Even with his discomfort Naruto moved surprisingly fast down the canvas of her back and after only a half hour he finished marking her entire backside and the back of her legs. Now he was looking at the last piece on the back of her body he needed to mark barely hidden beneath a small towel. "Karin-chan I'm finished with everything on your back, but one thing." He moved to her front so she could see him. "I need you to remove the towel so I can finish the seal." He said timidly.

She looked at him and smiled. "Ok." Karin didn't waste any time opening up the back of the towel and exposing herself to him. She felt like an exhibitionist and Naruto was the hapless victim of her perverted fantasies. The thought of Naruto touching her bare ass excited her immensely and she squealed in delight when she heard him gasp at her form.

Naruto had never seen a naked woman up this close before. Sure he saw some stuff in magazines and had read ero-sennin's icha-icha paradise series, but never had he seen the real thing. Karin's ass was faultless. It matched her figure perfectly and looked toned enough to bounce a nickel off of. He got to work right away and applied the first brush stroke all the way down the length of her perfect round buttock. It was too much for Karin. As the brush reached the bottom of her left cheek Karin moaned Naruto's name loudly and drenched the towel in her orgasmic fluids. He watched her convulse for a few short moments while her breathing went erratic and her toes curled up.

Naruto gripped his leg with extended claws as hard as he could to fight off an approaching erection. He was successful this time, but he was really close to ripping off his own clothes and mounting her like a wild animal. Composed and calm he talked himself down. _'Come on Naruto. This isn't you. This is her. Don't do anything stupid because you let someone else effect you.'_

"**Awww Naruto-kun you know you want it. She obviously wants you."** The Kyuubi chuckled.

Naruto gritted his teeth. _'I don't want this. This is happening because she got too excited. Not me.'_

"**Just think about it for a second. She's practically begging for you to take her on the cold floor. You could hold her down and fuck her until her legs go numb and she'd thank you for it and ask for more."** The Kyuubi said with a seductive, but slightly violent twinge in her voice.

'_Kyuubi-chan! Stop being perverted and help me out here!'_ Naruto shouted in his head.

"**Sorry Naru-kun. This is a physical reaction you're having. Until you gain full control of your new instincts you are going to have to run on will power alone."** She said nonchalantly.

_'Fine I'll do this on my own then.'_ Naruto huffed.

Karin's face went bright red. "Oh Kami Naruto-kun I'm so sorry!" She turned her head to see Naruto gritting his teeth and digging his hand into his leg so hard he drew blood. "I'm so sorry if I made you mad Naruto-kun! Please forgive me!" The sorrow was evident in her voice.

Naruto took a deep breath and smiled to her as he released the grasp on his leg. "I'm not mad Karin-chan. There's nothing to apologize for. Everything will be fine." Karin let out a deep sigh of relief, but noticed he was talking more to himself than her. "But could you please try as hard as you can not to do that again?"

She turned and laid back down. "I will try my hardest." The red-head said with a smirk across her face. _'I don't smoke, but after that I kinda feel like a cigarette haha.'_

(Line break)

Sakura walked out of the hospital with a smile plastered across her face. She was finally able to speak with Naruto. He didn't give her time to tell him all of her feelings, but since she wasn't sure how she felt in the first place she decided to just keep those to herself for now. Breaking into a run she rapidly made her way to Ino's house and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" Shuffling could be heard as Ino yelled from behind the door. After a few seconds the door opened to show a smiling blue eyed beauty. "Hey Sakura come on in." She said happily holding the door open for her pink friend.

"Thanks Ino." Sakura walked in to the main hallway and removed her shoes.

"I was just making some tea. Do you want some?" Ino asked pointing to the kitchen.

"Umm sure."

Ino clapped her hands together. "Great! Follow me." Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her through the hallway and into the cold linoleum floored kitchen. Sakura took a seat in a wooden chair circled around the Yamanaka kitchen table and Ino moved to the cabinet to take out a kettle and fill it with water.

Sakura put her hands on the table and rubbed them together anxiously. "So I finally talked to Naruto-kun." She said quietly.

Ino turned around and leaned up against the sink while the kettle filled with water. "Oh yeah?" More details were required immediately for Ino.

"Yeah." Sakura shuffled her hands. "I tried to apologize, but he wouldn't let me." Her hands moved to her lap. "He said…" 

Ino interrupted her. "He said there was nothing to apologize for." Sakura looked up at her blonde friend with confusion written on her face. "Am I right?"

The pinkette crossed her legs. "How did you know?"

She pointed a finger at her temple. "I don't have every memory of his, but I do have a whole lot of them trapped up here." The water in the kettle was filled and Ino took it over to the stove before sitting at the table across from her friend. "I know how he feels about you. Hell, I can feel how he feels about you." Sakura blushed at this. "Naruto blames things on himself. Never on anyone else." Ino released a sad sigh. "The real question is how do you feel about him?" She looked at her friend eager for a response.

"Well.." Sakura stammered. "I know that I like him." She said quietly.

"How do you like him?" Ino asked a little forcefully.

The pinkette's face matched her hair. "More than I should." She sighed loudly. "I don't know what to do Ino. I like Naruto-kun, but I still have feelings for Sasuke-kun too." She put her hands over her face.

Ino got up and moved over to her friend to place a comforting arm around her. "Sakura. Please explore your feelings for Sasuke first then make a decision about telling Naruto-kun how you feel." She said in a blunt voice.

Sakura picked her face up and looked at her friend incredulously. "Why?"

Ino's removed her arm from Sakura. "Because I like Naruto-kun." She said proudly.

The kettle started to whistle and Ino got up to pour them some tea. All the while Sakura stared at her in disbelief and disdain. When Ino sat down next to her she finally spoke. "Ino. I'm sorry." She said seriously. "We made a promise to never let a boy come between our friendship and here I am about to start it all over again."

Ino just smiled at her. "That's why I think you should make sure you know how you feel before you do anything drastic." She put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "If you still want Naruto after that we can work something out." She said wryly.

"I thought after what you did this morning…" Sakura didn't want to think about the kiss between them too much.

Ino laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Well I have good news and bad news depending on how you look at things. The good news is I finally separated my feelings for you from Naruto's. The bad news, or in the way I look at it the double good news, is not much has changed haha."

Sakura suddenly became frighteningly aware of Ino's hand massaging her shoulder. "Uh so you're still?"

"Yup!"

"And you want?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well ok then." Sakura took a small sip of her tea.

Ino sighed and shook her head. "I'm not a lesbian and I won't do anything to you." She said while she rolled her eyes.

Sakura breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh thank Kami." She said with a small laugh.

Ino gave her a stern look. "Naruto's feelings just amplified my own. I like you, but make no mistake I would much prefer Naruto's big, meaty, long, hard..."

Sakura put her hand up to stop the blonde. "I get the idea."

Ino pushed Sakura's hand down. "I don't think you do. I mean this thing is fucking enorm.."

"I said I get it!" She screamed trying to stop herself from picturing Naruto naked. She failed.

Ino moved closer. "My point is I like him a lot and unfortunately for me I think he still likes you. If you stay indecisive and confront him with your emotions just to hurt him then it may screw everything up for me so figure your shit out!"

Sakura reared her head back in surprise. "He likes me? I think you're wrong. He just wants to be friends. He said so."

Ino put a finger to her chin and took a thinking pose. "Nope. He's lying."

Sakura gave a small all knowing smile. "I'm pretty sure I'm right."

"And I'm pretty sure you have no idea what you're talking about." Ino glared.

"Lets just agree to disagree."

Ino stood up and pointed down at Sakura. "Listen here! I was in his goddamn head so I think I know what I'm talking about! Why the hell aren't you thanking me anyways? I just told you that you still have a chance dumb-ass!" Ino yelled.

Sakura yelled back. "Well thank you!"

Ino was confused by her friend's response, but yelled anyway. "You're welcome!"

They both narrowed their eyes and stared at each other for a minute before Sakura quietly spoke. "Well ok then."

"Ok." Ino cleared her throat in hopes of clearing the air with it. "Just please promise me you will talk to Sasuke about your feelings before you say anything to Naruto-kun. If you really want to be with Naruto-kun after that then you can talk to him, but not before." Ino wagged her finger.

Sakura sighed. "Fine I promise." A small amount of blood rushed to her face and she smiled. "Naruto and I are going to lunch tomorrow." She said giddily.

"It's not a date Forehead." Ino deadpanned.

Sakura crossed her arms and pouted. "Whatever. I never said it was."

"I went to lunch with him earlier today." She looked at Sakura. "Not a date."

"It could be."

Ino went to get herself some more tea. "Let me guess. It's at Ichiraku's." 

Sakura raised her head and turned away. "Yeah, but that's just his favorite place. That doesn't mean it's not a date." She said in a huff.

Ino filled her cup and turned around. "He's using lunch as an excuse to eat Ichiraku's while at the same time getting to know us. It's just for convenience."

"That lazy bastard!" Sakura yelled as her hand smashed into the table.

Ino giggled. "Oh calm down. You're going to have a great time with him. I guarantee you that by the time you get to Ichiraku's you won't care at all that you're at some crumby ramen bar."

"Well if you say so." Sakura said with a small amount of spite. And with that the two women stopped talking about the blonde haired boy and began to catch up for the past three years of Sakura's sulking. They talked well into the night about everything except boys. After about two in the morning Sakura finally made the decision to leave. "Well Ino it's been really fun, but I'm going to the hospital to see if Naruto-kun is done with Sasuke-kun. He said he was going to be working on him well into the night so I'm pretty sure he should be awake."

Ino laughed. "You're not going to waste any time huh?"

"No way. I'm going to talk to him tonight and find out how I feel. The more time I give you with Naruto the less chance I have." She said in a joking way, but Ino knew she was serious.

Ino threw her hands in front of her in defense. "You know….. I never said I would take him away from you. I just said we would work something out." The blonde looked into her pinkette friend's eyes and gave her a suggestive smile.

Sakura cringed. "Ummm ehhh."

Ino rubbed her hands up and down Sakura's arm. "Hands off pervert!" Sakura smacked Ino's hands off her. "Just because you're not a boy doesn't make it any less perverted!"

Ino put both her hands in Sakura's sight so she would settle down. "Whoa I get it. I was just trying to get you used to me because I'm not giving Naruto up easily." She gave Sakura another smile. "We might even have a couple of three way…. dates haha."

"That wasn't even funny." Sakura said in an annoyed tone.

"Doesn't have to be. Just has to put the idea in your head." A bright blush covered Sakura's face. "Oh! I think it worked!"

"Shut up Ino-pig!" Sakura stood up and rushed to the door. "I'm leaving!" She bolted out the door not even taking the time to close it.

Ino got up and walked to the frame to watch Sakura run away. "That girl is so confused." She let loose a big smile. "I wonder if I'll be able to have them both." The mind-walker moved to the table and began to clean up after her tea party. "But I'm going to need a plan." With that last thought she started up the stairs to rest so she could come up with a fool proof plan in the morning and win her two loves.

**This chappy was a little boring I know. My favorite ideas are coming up in the next chapters so more action will make it's way back in as well as the premise I set in the beginning.**

**It seems Tsume is a no go, but I will be bringing in the Inuzuka tribe again. If I did make this a harem, which it really seems to be heading towards, how would you guys like Karin? I know it almost seems like she's a definite, but she's not. She isn't able to control herself and I've thought of a remedy for her situation so soon she will act more coherent when Naruto is in the room.**

**See ya next time!**


	8. Raven and redheads

**Don't own Naruto.**

**All you guys make me do this (#^_^#). For those of you that don't know that's a blush face... I think.**

**Anyways, I see a couple of people are a little upset about the quick forgiveness of Sakura. I completely understand! If something like what she did happened to me I would definitely have done things differently. Sakura could easily test anyone's patience that's for sure. The thing is that nothing like that has ever happened to me. It happened to Naruto. For some reason he is the most forgiving anime and manga character I've ever seen. No matter what happens he always seems to forgive people. This may just be my opinion, but this is how I see him in the actual manga so this is how I try to portray him here. Think about it. Have you ever seen him hold a serious grudge? He would never stay mad at Sakura for long of that I am positive. If this was anyone but Naruto I would say Sakura should never be forgiven. I completely understand where you guys are coming from though. I had to make a decision when I wrote that part and I went with my gut, but it was still a hard decision to make.**

**Btw lemony snikket paid me a visit and left you guys a gift! Oh boy who's it going to be with?**

**Sorry it took so long for this chappy to come out. Had a few distractions, but such is life. Here's a new chapter for ya!**

The beautiful pale eyes of a raven haired beauty flutter open as she pushed a blanket made of the finest threads in all of Konoha off of her voluptuous frame. Her lavender eyes which allow a near omniscient view of the world look restless, but happy. Hinata Hyūga never really cared for all the finer things she had been given, but she accepted them as a common occurrence with her family name and future title of Hyūga clan leader. Her happiness never stemmed from her expensive things or her lavish future, but they came from the recent arrival of a blonde and red haired man who she loved more than anything money or status could ever afford her.

The blush that covered her face since Naruto had arrived the day before had finally vanished. However, thoughts of the odd effect he had on her body at the gate of Konoha ran through her mind and the short reprieve in her blush was gone as blood rushed to her face once more. Still, she was very proud of herself because she did not faint the second she saw him. It took a few minutes for that to happen.

She hadn't seen him since the Pain attack. Since she confessed her love for him and ran away. Naruto had tried to find her after that, but her embarrassment and fear of rejection were far too strong to allow a meeting. Whenever he came around the compound to find her she would hide in her room until he left. When she finally gained the courage to go see him he had already gone to retrieve Sasuke so for the past three years she has been thinking about what to say when she saw him next. The black haired beauty still didn't know the words.

However, Hinata was sick of waiting. She was sick of turning suitors down left and right. She didn't want them. The same person has been in her dreams since the first day she met him and nothing has changed. Overall, the pale skinned woman was lucky her relationship with her father had increased dramatically over the past few years or she might have been forced into a marriage by now. Her renewed relationship with her father was just one of the many things Naruto gave her the confidence to achieve and she was going to thank him for it ten fold. Naruto had a friend and admirer before he could've realized and she was going to see him now whether she was ready or not.

Small beams of light from the rising sun peeked through the windows of the Hyūga compound and made their way to the pale skin of Hinata's bare arms, but they didn't wake her because she had never gone to sleep. The entire night had been spent thinking about what to say when she saw Naruto again. It felt like the words should just be there and this shouldn't be so difficult, but it was. She knew exactly how she felt, but the articulation of those feelings was like an impossible dream. She hoped that when she found him again the words would form and flow, but she knew she would probably just stutter a whole lot and pass out like she did when she saw him at the gate.

Her strong, milk colored legs swept off to the side of her bed as she made to rise for the day. Her dainty feet lightly touched the ground with a form of elegance that couldn't be taught, but was more like a gift from Kami that only she was given. The very way she walked could make any man swoon, but because of her choice in semi-baggy clothing no one was allowed an appreciative look at the Hyūga heir.

All of her attempts to turn suitors away with baggy clothes were for naught because even though she was able to cover her body she could not stop men from looking into her eyes. They seemed to have a power beyond the byakugan. A few of the suitors pursued her for the power they could gain in their union with her, but most were captivated by her glowing lavender orbs that allowed her to see beyond the scope of normal human sight. She thought maybe if she could find the courage to look up at Naruto for once and stare into his eyes then maybe he might just look back and notice her the same way she has noticed him. Unfortunately, she still hasn't gained the nerve to look at him when they spoke in the past. Even when she confessed her love she couldn't look back at him because of her apprehension, but that is all going to change.

Today is the day she will confront him. She just has to find him first. After quickly showering and getting dressed in her usual purple coat with fishnet underneath and blue pants she runs out of the Hyūga compound and towards Naruto's apartment. When she arrived she activated her byakugan to find he had already left and to where she did not know. She ran a hand through her beautiful waist length raven colored hair and sighed in sadness for the tedious journey ahead of her. The only thing she could do was check his favorite hot spots, but lucky for her she knew them all by heart having been there multiple times in his absence excluding his apartment, which was almost always occupied by Sakura. She wasn't sure what to think of her.

The obvious place to start was Ichiraku's, but when she talked to Ayame she found he hadn't been there yet. Next was the Hokage monument. Again, that was a dud. Finally, she started to check his favorite training spots. She came upon him in the first ground she checked. She was so happy to find her judgment of his favorite area was correct and out of habit she ducked behind a tree to watch him train like she used to. With her byakugan activated she could finally take her time and examine him.

Three years had done Naruto well. The black and orange muscle shirt he is wearing clung to his body and his untamed red and blonde hair that draped past his ears looked downright sexy. She is able to see through his clothes with her byakugan, but chose not to since she would probably pass out and lose track of him. She noticed that large chunks of the forest had been destroyed and he was currently putting out what seemed like puddles of fire by holding his hand out. She was curious and decided now was her time to approach. She took a step forward, but got scared and crouched back behind the tree.

"Ahh and what are doing here? Not spying on my favorite pupil I hope." A lazy sounding voice from behind Hinata spoke.

She turned around to see the one and only Copycat Kakashi standing in front of her with his infamous eye smile. She was so transfixed on Naruto she didn't even realize the scarecrow ninja was there. "Hel... hello Kakashi-san." She stuttered out.

He lifted his favorite orange book up to his face. "You know there is nothing to be nervous about. Just let him do the talking." He said understanding the situation before it was ever explained as he has been known to do.

She looked down at her hands and started to rub them together. "I...I ummmm.."

She was taking far too long to say anything for the cyclops so he spoke up. "I'll help you. I'll just let him know you're here." He began towards Naruto who was lying on the ground.

"No!" She clasped her hand over her mouth.

Kakashi turned around with a raised brow. "And why not?"

"I'm not ready yet." She said with more confidence.

Kakshi looked at her for a minute. "Yeah you are." He turned around again. "Trust me. You'll thank me later." He resumed his walk. 

She had to stop him, but how! Thinking quickly she realized her byakugan let her be privy to information no one else was. "If you don't stop I'll tell people what's under your mask." She yelled to him.

He turned around again, but this time with a wide eye. "You wouldn't!" He put his book back into its pouch.

"I would." She said affirmatively.

He crossed his arms and sized her up to see if she was lying. "It doesn't matter. No one would believe you." He pulled out his sharingan to test her answers.

The pale skinned woman clenched her hands and prepared her best noble speak. "Being a noble I have been taught many things. One of those things is how to draw realism to perfection." She steeled her will. Without Naruto's influence she would never have the confidence to blackmail anyone like this. "The fangirls will go insane. You won't have a moments rest once they find out what you look like under there."

Seeing that she wasn't lying Kakashi threw his hands up and lowered his head. "Very well." He said lazily. "You win." Kakashi covered his eye and took his book back out before slowly slinking away. He stopped, but didn't turn around. "I was with him for the past three years so I know him well enough by now. You should just talk to him."

Hinata watched him walk away before turning around to watch her love train some more before she confronted him. She slumped forward in depression. "He's gone." She frowned as she looked at the place Naruto once laid. Her stance stiffened up and she crushed a fist in front of her. "I'm not giving up! Naruto-kun wouldn't and neither will I!"

Unfortunately it took her until he reached the hospital to seal Sasuke and his team later that night to find him. She decided to wait in a tree outside for him. Stake outs were common for ninja so a few hours in a tree was not all that uncommon. Nothing will stop her from talking to him that night and letting him know how she felt.

(Line Break)

**With Karin and Naruto**

"Alright then." Naruto said as he bent down and got back to work on Karin's shapely ass. He finished her backside with only a few more moans escaping Karin's lips, but nothing too major. He surveyed his work. "Good. Ok I'm done with your backside. In a few minutes I'm going to have you sit up and I'll start drawing the seals on your face." Over the next few minutes Naruto poked and prodded his work to make sure it was perfect. He had no idea that all he was doing was getting Karin excited again. The teenage girl went so long without being touched by another person that every slight graze of Naruto's fingers excited her. She said she would try her hardest, but her hardest was not enough and she was losing control fast.

"It all looks dry." Naruto said as he wrapped the towels around her back. "You can sit up now." Karin pushed herself up and sat cross legged facing Naruto, but covered her most sensitive parts from Naruto's eyes. "Are you ready?" She nodded. Naruto leaned forward and gently held her chin in his hand. The redhead stared into his deep blue eyes so intently she didn't even notice he had begun writing on her cheek. He made quick work of her face and asked her to lie down so he could start on the rest of her body. Naruto finished the complicated design necessary for her stomach and the basic pattern on the front of her legs quickly and now was the time to remove the towels again. Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself. "Karin." She lifted her head to look at him. "I need you to uh..." He tried to say remove your towel as professionally as he could, but he was too embarrassed to finish the sentence.

She merely smiled in understanding, nodded her head, and ripped the towel off with one clean swoop of her hand. Naruto's control faded at the sight. Two perfect milky white breasts bounced around as the towel flung away. Naruto shut his eyes in an attempt to prevent himself from getting an erection and it seemed like it worked until Karin spoke. "Open yours eyes Naruto-kun." She said seductively. He bolstered his will and slowly opened his eyes to see Karin's light pink nipples jiggling right in his face.

"Gah! Karin-chan what are you doing?" He fell backwards and landed on his butt.

She laid back down. "I'm just trying to get you used to them faster so we can move on." The devious medic replied casually.

Naruto sighed happily when he noticed the bulge that formed in his pants was reacting to his will and not his hormones as it started to retract. With tired hands he picked up the brush and got back to work. Karin almost came yet again as the brush slowly swept across her nipples. It took every once of her will not to cum, but she knew she could make it. The final part however, was a different story. She wasn't so sure she would be able to hold out once the final towel came off.

Naruto quickly finished up Karin's breasts, but that just meant he was one step closer to the epicenter of his raging hormones. He even did it without getting too aroused by the delicious scent of honey she released as he performed his duties, but the next step was going to be different. Hidden beneath the towel in front of him was the reason he was losing control and he knew that there was a high risk of problems once that small piece of cloth was removed. Too bad for him now was the time. He gently nudged Karin and she lifted her head to look at him. He didn't say anything, but she understood what she had to do.

The redheaded woman slowly undid the towel this time instead of just flinging it off. Naruto took the towel, threw it to a clone, and ordered him to wait outside of the room. Naruto had no feelings of arousal this time. The girl in front of him looked more fragile than seductive and Naruto instantly felt terrible he had to do this to her. She noticed this and took his hand. "It's alright Naruto-kun. I'm ok with it if it's you."

Naruto held her hand back and gave her a smile. "I'm glad you trust me Karin-chan because this part will be a little difficult for both of us." Their faces went bright red. "As soon as you feel ready I'm going to need you to lie back." She nodded and slowly laid down. Naruto moved a little closer to her. He cleared his throat a little. "Umm... I need you to... let your legs fall apart." He didn't want to say the words 'spread your legs' because that sounded far too insinuative. She complied and her legs spread slightly. Naruto cleared his throat again. "I'm sorry Karin-chan, but could you open them a little more?"

Karin spread her legs wide and Naruto salivated. Karin smirked. _'I finally got him to drool.'_ She was proud of her achievement. It was impossible for Naruto to contain his erection once her legs opened up and the sight of her glistening wet lips came into view. He quickly adjusted himself to make the bulge less noticeable and averted his eyes to the inside of her leg.

"**Looks like you have a thing for redheads huh Naruto-kun."** The Kyuubi said playfully. He just ignored her.

Unfortunately for Naruto the designs around the reproductive organs are very intricate due to the fact that the human body is only made to do a couple of things during a lifetime. One important thing the body does is reproduction so a lot of chakra is pushed there, which makes the design he has to draw quite elaborate. He is forced to bring his face close to her sopping wet folds in order to make sure the design he draws is correct.

Karin felt him move his head between her legs and got hopeful. She propped herself up onto her elbows so she could watch him work. The first stroke caressed Karin's inner leg and her eyes rolled back into her head as the feeling almost sent her over the edge again. As she brought her head back down to look at Naruto she noticed he had stopped applying the seals. The reason was because his eyes were fastened to her well shaven core. The look in his eyes was one of hunger. It was an animalistic gaze that only spelled a good time for Karin unless she was mistaken. "See something you like Naruto-kun?" She said seductively as she has already gotten over her slight fear of fully exposing herself to another.

Naruto shook his head quickly and snapped himself out of his trance. "I'm sorry Karin-chan. That must have made you uncomfortable." He said with his head down.

"No that's fine Naruto-kun. Let's just continue." She purred to him. Naruto regained his composure and got back to work. His brush strokes quickly and efficiently moved across Karin's sensitive lips. His warm breath moved across her engorged reproductive organ and it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. _'Oh no not again!'_ She tried to hold herself back, but the strokes moving across her skin coupled with Naruto's hot breath caused her to erupt. Her liquid sprayed for the second time that day, but this time there was no towel to collect the flow. Only Naruto's face was there to catch the fruits of her orgasm.

Karin moved to apologize, but she noticed something strange about Naruto. Instead of wiping his face of the liquid dripping off of it he just stood still with his eyes wide open. Karin didn't say anything. She just watched Naruto put his hand to his face and wiped down his cheek slowly. His hand was covered with Karin's orgasm and the liquid dripped down his fingers as he held them in front of him. The former Akatsuki watched as Naruto's hand slowly moved towards his mouth and his tongue escaped his lips. His small pink appendage gently drug across his extended fingers before it shot back into his mouth to give him a taste of the redhead.

Karin loved every second of it. Now was the time for her to make her move. The hot redhead leaned forward to unbuckle his pants, but stopped when red slit eyes looked back at her. If the ink covering her body wasn't filled with Naruto's chakra she knew the Kyuubi's would be strangling her right then. "Naruto-kun?" She asked fearfully.

Naruto's growled loudly and a hand shot out to grab Karin's face. Suddenly every seal around the room spiraled onto the medic's body and settled onto her right shoulder in the form of two overlapping triangles. The pain was too much of a surprise for her to bear. She almost instantly passed out leaving a panting Naruto clutching his chest. The blonde fell back and sighed. "That was too close." He looked down at the bulge in his pants. "Goddammit I told you not to embarrass me!" He yelled pointing at his offending package. "Fucking hormones!" The jinchuuriki looked down at the sleeping Karin. The serene look on her face made him let loose a small smile. "I'm sorry." Using a blanket he wrapped her up and carried her bridal style up the steps to her hospital bed. Naruto didn't want her to wake up confused and completely naked in front of the rest of the guys so he got another room for her and decided to put her there instead.

After he laid Karin on her bed and turned off the lights he went to get cleaned up. There were showers all over the hospital he could use so he picked one and stripped down. Following his recent experience with Karin he made sure the shower was cold as ice to ease his …. tension.

Even though only moments ago he saw a fully exposed Karin the only thing he could think about was having lunch with Sakura the next day. He planted both his hands against the wall and shivered as cold water ran down his spine. His feelings for Sakura still hadn't changed. He thought maybe time and distance would make him forget or at least help him gain the will to hold himself back and not interfere in her life. But distance only made the heart grow fonder. He wondered if it would be a better idea to cancel his meal and start avoiding her again, but he couldn't do that to the pinkette. He didn't want to make her sad ever again.

He turned the knobs for the water to close them off and stepped out of the shower to change into his usual mostly black attire. He was going to leave but instead he decided, like a good friend, to check up on Sasuke and the others. As he made his way to Sasuke's door he put his hand out to turn the handle, but stopped abruptly when he felt two conscious chakra signatures on the other side. Leaning his hands against the door he could feel who it was and what was happening using his sage abilities.

It was Sakura and Sasuke and their chakras were wrapped around each other. "They're kissing." Naruto clutched his chest and fell to the ground. There was a sharp ache where his heart should be and it was threatening to spread to the rest of his body. _'Why!'_ He mentally cursed himself. _'This is what I knew would happen so why does it feel like this?'_ He slowly stood up and stepped away from the door that held the thing he dreaded so much. His hand never left his chest as the pain in his heart started leading up into his throat and made him wheeze. _'What was I expecting anyways? I've been pushing her away.'_ He was slowly making his way out of the hospital doors when he realized he could just use his Hiraishin to go home instantly instead of walking. He missed the pale eyed Hyūga jump out of a tree and call his name before he teleported away.

(Line break)

Sakura walked into the hospital ready to see Sasuke for the first time since he's been back. She didn't know if he was even awake or not, but she didn't care because enough time has been wasted not seeing him or Naruto. Making her way to Sasuke's room was easy. After working in the hospital for so long she could walk to most areas blindfolded hence she didn't waste any time going straight to the Uchiha. Following a deep breath, she opened the door to the sharingan user's room to find him awake and leaning back in his bed. The other two men whose names she didn't know were both sleeping in their respective beds and seemed to be out for the night.

"Hello Sakura. It's nice to see you again." He turned his head and black eyes met green.

Sakura had to admit the he was a pretty man. His body wasn't as muscular as Naruto's, but had a whole different kind of appeal to it. It was a more feminine look with an accompanying cold attitude that made him mysterious. Unlike Naruto's tanned and tone skin his was pale and looked elegant. Sakura didn't even realize the only thing she was doing was comparing Sasuke to Naruto the entire time. "It's nice to see you too Sasuke-kun." She moved towards him and sat at the end of his bed. The medic gently placed her hand on the bed sheet covering his foot. "How are you feeling?"

He lifted his arms and showed her a few fading cuts. "My wounds have closed and my chakra is replenished. I'm ready for active duty as soon as it's allowed." The raven haired man put his arms down and shifted closer to Sakura. "I was wondering if you would like to go out on a date with me when I'm permitted to leave the hospital."

The conversation just took a 180 and Sakura was shocked by his forwardness. She looked into his face to try and find some emotion, but as usual there was none. This is not happening at all like she planned. She was supposed to casually come by and talk to him to see how she felt, not have him ask her out. "Wha? Really?"

"Of course. I would like to begin a courtship with you if you would like." He gently placed his hand on hers as she looked down in uncertainty. This isn't what he had expected would happen. "Is something wrong?"

She picked her head up. "No no. I'm just surprised is all." Her eyes looked to the floor. "So why the sudden change? You never wanted to go out with me before." She didn't know why she was questioning his motives. This was supposed to be her dream since before she was a genin and now something feels weird about the whole situation.

He wrapped his fingers around her palm so they were holding hands. "In my time away I've come to realize a few things. I've wasted so much time on revenge when I should have come back right away and started my life." She felt his grip on her hand tighten slightly almost as if he was nervous. "Some day I would like to rebuild my clan and I was hoping you could join me. You're strong, smart, and most of all my friend." She smiled brightly. He has never said anything so kind to her. "Also, Naruto made a good point. I had originally intended on marrying for political strength, but he suggested I talk to you first." Sasuke let a small smile grace his lips. "He's actually much smarter than I thought. At least in matters of the heart." He chuckled.

Sakura was noticeably shocked. '_Naruto-kun told him to do this? I guess he really doesn't want me.'_ The pinkette eyed up the Uchiha. The fact that he showed an emotion like nervousness so openly surprised her. Still, something felt wrong to her. There was only one way for her to decide if this was right. "I would be glad to go out on a date with you." They both smiled. "But there is something that I need you to do first."

Sasuke was confused, but of course he didn't show it. "What would you like me to do?"

Sakura moved closer to his lap. "I need you to kiss me."

He would have thought she was joking if she didn't look so serious. Since he wasn't one to back down from anything and this almost felt like a challenge he didn't even question why she wanted him to do this before he moved in and kissed her.

The medic knew what to expect. The kiss would be phenomenal. All the emotions Sasuke refused to show in person would be reflected through their connection and she would feel cared for and loved. Everything would be the same as their first kiss so long ago…. but it wasn't. The kiss felt wrong. It almost felt familial to her like a brother was on the other side of her lips. It was cold and her feelings were ultimately unreturned. A soft thump was heard outside the door. She almost instantly broke off the kiss and stared at the stoic faced Uchiha. "That wasn't anything like our first kiss." She said bluntly.

Sasuke stared at her incredulously. "I don't understand. What kiss are you referring to?"

Sakura frowned at his lack of care for something that was so special to her. "Our first kiss. When we became genin you found me in the park. You told me I was beautiful and you kissed me. How could you forget something like that?"

Sasuke calmly stared at her. "That never happened."

She laughed. "I think being away so long has made you forget a few things."

Her laughter was cut off. "That. Never. Happened." He said harshly not sparing her feelings since he felt like she was laughing at him.

The medic shook her head and glared back at him in defiance. Her hand tightened around his to the point where he visibly cringed. "It did happen. You said my forehead was beautiful and you kissed me."

Sasuke pried his hand out of hers and rubbed it. "I don't know what to tell you. All I can say is I never kissed you. Maybe it was someone with a henge active or something."

Sakura pointed a finger at him. "You know that can't be true. If it was a henge then I would've passed through the illusion when I kissed you. We did kiss. Get it?"

Sasuke rubbed his chin in thought for a second and then began to chuckle. Sakura would normally beat someone for laughing at her, but seeing the last Uchiha with a smile was so rare she was too flabbergasted to smack him. "Sakura. I think it was a henge."

"I just told you it couldn't have been!" She shouted. "Henges aren't solid!"

"They can be." He chuckled a little more.

"There is no such thing as a... solid... henge." Realization set in. "Oh shit."

Sasuke decided it was safe to hold her hand again. Before he could grab her she jumped forward and wrapped him up in a hug. "S..Sakura?" His arms were held up in surprise.

Tears streamed out of her eyes. "I've wasted so much time!"

Sasuke's arms slowly came down and held her. "It's ok." He let loose a small smile. "Naruto snuck in a kiss while henged into me huh? I always thought the reason he tied me up back then was because he was jealous of me or something, but now I know he was just trying to make more time with you." Saying that only made her cry louder and the raven haired man didn't know how to deal with crying women. Especially not super strong women that are in a position to rip him in half at his midsection. "Oh. Uh. I'm sorry." He said slightly nervous.

She sat up and smiled a little. "No. This is a good thing!" She let him out of the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes. "All this time I've been so confused. Now I know what to do! Tomorrow I'm going to lunch with Naruto and I'm gonna... I'm gonna..." She bit her lip.

Sasuke lifts an eyebrow. "You're going to what?" He said in an annoyed tone.

She put her head down. "I don't know. I told Ino I would talk to her before I tried anything with Naruto. I would feel like a bitch if I just grabbed him out from under her." The exhausted medic laid her head on Sasuke's chest. "I just want him to..." She passed out. A full day of work at a busy hospital coupled with the fact that it was almost sunrise made her too tired to lift her head before she fell asleep.

Sasuke smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Looks like there won't be an 'us' in the future." He stroked her hair as she breathed deeply into his chest. "Oh well. I did prefer you over anyone else you know." Sasuke sighed with a sad smile as he spoke to the sleeping woman. "I suppose this is for the best. I can't boot out that troglodyte warhawk Danzo without more support from the ninja clans anyways. But still, I would've preferred you." With those words he began to drift off as well. "Please make my brother happy." And he was out.

(Line break)

Naruto flashed into his apartment just inside the door where the seal for his Hiraishin no Jutsu was located. The blonde slumped back into a wall and slowly fell to the floor. _'This doesn't make any sense to me. I want her to be happy and I've made that happen so why do I feel like this?'_ He clutched a hand to his chest. _'Is this what heartbreak feels like?_' He wanted to get up, but he felt too defeated to even move.

Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them again he found he was no longer in his room. Instead he was overlooking a serene grassy meadow with Oak trees scattered throughout. The sun was high in the sky so he knew he must have fallen asleep and this is his mindscape. The scene looked very nice. It appeared to be a beautiful summer day and the leaves on the trees were green and full of life as well as the grass and flowers surrounding him so he knew it was not one of his own mind's creations. Normally his preferred time of year is fall because he liked the orange and yellow of the leaves and the slightly cooler weather, but the picture before him was calming and made him feel more at ease than anything he had manufactured before.

He looked around for the only other being that should be located in his mind. A movement on the other side of the meadow caught his eye and he turned. It was the Kyuubi unlike he had ever seen her before. She was walking towards him wearing a white sundress that stopped about mid thigh and left most of her back exposed. Her red and black hair was topped off with a large white brimmed hat used to block out the shining sun, but it was still untamed as it ran down her bare back and over her shoulders. The dark color of her skin seemed to glow in the brightness of the sun and held a perfect contrast to the white dress she was wearing. Naruto had to admit the Kyuubi had style and she was more beautiful than he could ever hope to describe.

He was so taken by her appearance he didn't even notice she had already made her way to him. **"Hey Naruto-kun."** She said with a cute smile.

Naruto snapped out of his trance. "Hey Kyuubi-chan. What is all of this?" He said swiveling his head around to look over the meadow once more.

She took his hand and walked towards a large tree. **"Well you were stressed out and I wanted to make you happy so I created this place."** As they sat in the shade of the tree together she took off her large brimmed hat and threw it to the side where it merely disappeared.

He held her hand tightly. "You didn't need to do all this for me you know."

"**Of course I did! I've been saving this place I created for a special time, but you were so upset I thought sooner was better than later." **She pulled a picnic basket out of thin air. **"Here!"** She opened up the basket to remove a red and black checkered blanket for them to lie on, and a steaming bowl of beef ramen. **"I think you'll enjoy this."**

He moved onto the blanket and sipped at the ramen. Before the Kyuubi could ask how it tasted he had already finished the bowl in one giant gulp. "This is delicious!"

She chuckled. **"It should be. It's the best ramen you've ever had. I took it from your memory and brought it out here for you to have as many times as you want**." Naruto watched astonished as the bowl refilled itself, but instead of eating more he moved it off to the side and laid down. The red eyed demoness moved and laid across the checkered sheet in front of him. They were both on their sides propped up by their elbows so they could stare in to each others eyes.

A sad look crossed Naruto face. "Why are you doing this for me?" He looked around. "The attention to detail, the beautiful dress... everything is perfect."

She rolled into his arms so Naruto had his chest pressed against her back and she took his hands to place them on her flat stomach. **"It's because…."** She said quietly before she trailed off.

"Because why Kyuubi-chan?" He said as he removed a few strands of hair from her face.

She turned her head to stare into his bright blue eyes. **"I'm doing this because I love you!"**

"Oh I see." He turned his head away from her and tears began to well up in her eyes. The great demon queen feared the human boy no longer loved her and was on the verge of crying right in front of him. "This is just another one of my dreams then."

The Kyuubi shook out of her daze and almost laughed at her own assumption. **"You think this is a dream?"**

"Well yeah." He said less certain than before. "It's a little different than the normal one where you appear and we hold each other, but the concept is the same."

The all powerful Kyuubi giggled in the blonde boys face. **"Those kind of weren't dreams either."**

His eyes went wide. "I told you they were real!" He shouted in victory as he shifted up. Naruto looked down at her accusingly and pointed a finger in her face. "You laughed at me and said to stop dreaming about you!"

She waved her hands in defense. **"I know I know! I'm sorry about that."** She put her bronze hand gently across his cheek. **"But I think you're missing the point."**

The smile he gave her was soft, but it warmed her heart. "I love you too Kyuubi-chan." He brought her in to his chest a little farther and she purred at the contact. "So what does this mean for us?"

She ground her hips against him and his breath hitched for a moment. She smiled. **"It means a few things. But first you have to promise me something."** She turned towards him so he could realize she was serious.

"A promise? What kind of promise?" He was concerned.

"**I will always be with you. Nothing will ever change that, but the fact is there are some things I can't do. Most importantly is I can't give you any children."** The sadness of her inability to be a mother showed through her expression.

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That's ok Kyu..."

"**No it's not ok!"** She put her hands on his chest. **"You can be an amazing father one day. I know you can! So you have to promise me that you will find someone besides me to love.**"

He looked away. "I can't promise you that."

The demon sighed. "**I can't make you fall in love. We will always have other and that is enough for me, but I really want you to find another to join us. Please just promise me you'll at least try."**

"Alright I promise." They both smiled and embraced each other. "I knew you loved me too." He teasingly spoke into her wild hair.

She kissed his neck softly. **"Sure you did."** There was a small hint of sarcasm in her voice. She pulled her head back a little so the could look each other in the eyes. **"Naruto-kun I was thinking."** The jinchuuriki quirked an eyebrow. **"Why don't we leave Konoha for now. There are many things I've seen in this world that I wouldn't want you to miss out on."**

"You mean leave the village?" He stared back into her eyes.

She averted her gaze. **"Well let's just call it an extended vacation."**

Naruto wanted to just flat-out say no, but he understood her intentions. The Kyuubi was startled as a hand came and brushed her hair off of her cheek. She looked up to see Naruto smiling down at her lovingly. "Thank you for caring about me so much, but my problem earlier….. was just a small moment of weakness. You don't need to worry about me. Everything will be fine." He said sounding quite sure of himself.

"**Oh it's so cute when you try to lie like that."** She said as he pinched his cheek, which only served to frustrate him.

"What? I'm not lying!" He said more affirmatively than before.

"**Hmmm maybe you don't know you are, but you really are.**" She giggled**. "I've been in your head for your entire life. I know what you think and how you feel for the most part. You definitely still love that girl just as much as ever and if you stay in Konoha you will only know strife and heartache. But if we leave.."** He gave her a look to let her know he would never abandon Konoha. **"not forever. Just for a bit…"** His features calmed again and she continued. **"I guarantee you will happier than you ever thought you could be. You just need to give me time."** Naruto looked at her and saw the almost pleading look in her eyes.

She gave him the puppy dog eyes to which he had no defense. He sighed. "I can't believe I'm giving in so easily."

She gave him a huge smile as she jerked around in excitement. **"I swear you won't regret it!"** She leaned forward and captured his mouth with hers. It was so sudden that Naruto didn't even close his eyes until she began to prod his lips with her tongue. He returned her kiss and upped the ante as he rolled on top of her and pushed his hand into her hair. She tore at his back with scratches that he was sure would leave a mark if he was in his real body and not in his mind.

After a few minutes of playful kissing they broke apart and held each other delicately. "I hope you don't mind a change in scenery because I have a place I've wanted to show you." The Kyuubi watched in awe as the sun that was so high in the sky just a second ago began to set and the field of flowers they were laying in turned into sand. She yelped a little as water came rushing at them from over the horizon, but calmed down when the large waves slowed down to gently ebb and flow across her feet instead of crashing into them. She reached down to feel the warmth of the water on her hands and smell the saltiness of the warm ocean breeze that softly tossed her hair around. Next, a moon more full and large than anything the real world could provide was set just above the horizon overlooking the vast ocean Naruto's mind just created.

The red haired demoness looked around. Naruto had created a long beachfront with a midnight scene for her. **"I've never seen such a beautiful place in my life."** As she spoke two tiki torches appeared on either side of them so their small area held a gentle glow. She stared at the features of his face as the shadows his contours provided danced around while the flames from the torches flickered.

"Thank you Kyuubi-chan." He said as he looked out over the quietly moving ocean. "I've wanted to bring you here for a long time, but I wasn't sure if I should. You know because it's kind of romantic." He said goofily as he scratched the back of his head in nervousness.

She laughed at his inexperience with dates. **"It's very romantic Naruto-kun. I love it."** He turned to her and smiled. Just like every other time he's ever given her that loving grin she promptly melted like butter on a hot day in his arms. They laid there in each others arms for what seemed like hours just talking.

Eventually she felt a need arise in her belly. Her knees sunk slightly into the sand as she straddled Naruto and locked his lips once more, only this time it was more passionate and filled with a powerful lust. She was about to do something she has wanted to do for a long time.

Naruto was enthralled by the woman on top of him. His hands gently brushed her well tanned and tone thighs causing her to moan softly. Everything about the Kyuubi was perfection. The scars that cover the bodies of most ninja make no appearance on her unmarred skin and she has a beauty more akin to a goddess than a demoness. He attempted to keep his cool, but it was degrading fast as the redheaded woman feverishly placed kiss after kiss upon his face and neck.

The Kyuubi smirked when she felt his erection press against her thigh. As she looked down on him she noticed he wasn't exactly sure what to do. She grabbed his hands and brought them under her dress to cup her buttocks. When she felt his erection twitch she knew he was loving this treatment. **"I'm going to give you a little gift Naruto-kun."** She said in her all seductive manner.

Naruto gulped. "A gift?"

She traced a finger down his chest. **"Let's call it a... taste."** She gave him a half smile as she eyed him up like a piece of meat.

Naruto didn't even have time to wonder what she meant before the kisses that she was placing on his neck began to move down to his chest and then lower. By this time she had backed up so far her legs were mostly in the water of the ocean and her head was hovering over his groin. "Ahhhaha." He chuckled nervously as she unbuckled his pants and pulled them down in one swift blow releasing his manhood to the warm ocean air.

"**Well Naruto-kun. I would say I was surprised by the size of this thing if I hadn't seen it before."** She said as one of her hands gripped him by the base of his shaft and swung his member around in circles.

Naruto blushed heavily as the feel of her soft hand made him twist in pleasure. **"Oh you like that?"** The distressed man could only nod back to her. The demoness smirked before quickly pumping his dick a few times.

"Gah!" The intense feeling caught him by surprise.

"**Heehee."** She was having too much fun making him squirm. **"Remember Naruto-kun."** He looked down at her to watch her finger slowly drag up and down his shaft. **"This is only the beginning of what I have planned for our little journey.** **There is going to be Oh. So. Much. More."** She rubbed the tip. **"When I think you're ready for it that is."**

Naruto quirked a brow at her devious smile. **"Ohhhhhhhmmmmm."** That was the noise she made as her mouth fully engulfed his member. It was the single most amazing sound he has ever heard coupled with the most amazing feeling he has ever experienced. Her hot mouth slurped across his cock and released the pressure he had accumulated over his encounter with Karin. He shot up as his tip hit the back of her throat just to be pushed back down by her bronze hand. The blonde man sounded more like a little child as he whined when the Kyuubi slipped him out of her mouth. **"Ah ah ah you just stay down there."** She chastised him and wagged her finger.

Naruto wanted to complain, but he couldn't risk her stopping. She chuckled at his compliance before she got back to work. Her tongue slowly drug up his length while it took both of her hands to hold it in place. One hand gripped his base while she took him in her mouth once more. Her other hand gently played with the skin of his scrotum, careful not to accidently push too hard on his balls. With her special treatment it wasn't long before he could feel himself reaching his limit. The Kyuubi knew he was getting close because his engorged member was becoming even more difficult to handle in her mouth. She was ready to throw him over the edge. The Kyuubi slammed her head down on his cock repeatedly.** "Gug gug gug gug."** The sound of her gagging turned him on more than she could imagine.

"Ah Kyuubi-chan!" Only seconds after she began deepthroating he was ready to cum. She knew what was coming so she took him in as far as she could. Waves of his seed shot directly down her throat almost completely bypassing her mouth.

She was barely even able to get a taste of it, but to her it tasted like. **"Strawberry yogurt?"** She looked at him oddly as she licked a little excess Naruto off of her lips.

He was far too gone to answer her. She just heard him mumble something along the lines of 'my mind' and 'probably tastes better' as he laid on the sand trying to recover from the powerful orgasm she just gave him.

"**Aww you made it taste like yogurt for me."** She smiled at her job well done as Naruto lay writhing in front of her. She laid next to him and rested her head against his chest. She could still hear his heart beating rapidly and she laughed. **"Damn I'm good."**

Naruto chuckled. "You have no idea." With that they both drifted off to sleep inside Naruto's mind, but from the outside it would just appear like Naruto leaned against the door and fell asleep. Or at least that's what Hinata saw with her byakugan as she stood outside his apartment.

"He's asleep." She was forlorn as she stood outside of his apartment. Soon her pale beautiful face perked up a bit. "Tomorrow it is then Naruto-kun." She said before dashing off to finally get a nights rest of her own.

**So that was my first little lemon. Not a full one or anything, but don't you worry about that. There will be one soon enough. **

**I have to apologize to everyone now. When I started this story I had an idea of Naruto wanting to leave and stay away from Konoha because of other circumstances. Unfortunately my story has shifted so now he just wants to leave for a long vacation and not forever. The point is my tagline for this story is highly misleading and for that I am sorry. I'll have to change that soon I suppose. It's just I never realized how angsty I would have to make this story in order for him to want to leave that badly and I'm not sure I can write at that level of emotional turmoil. **

**Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading even with my major mess up!**


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